Shloka 186
पञ्चवर्णोत्पत्तिः — The Origin of the Five-Colored Fiery Being and Ritual-Disruptor Lineages
स्रोतसासकृदाक्षिप्तं द्वियमाणं बलीयसा । इस प्रकार यह संसार असहाय तथा मोह, शोकमें डूबा हुआ है। कर्मोके अत्यन्त प्रबल प्रवाहमें पड़कर बार-बार उसकी आधि-व्याधिरूपी तरंगोंके थपेड़े सहता और विवश होकर इधर-से-उधर बहता रहता है
srotasā sakṛd ākṣiptaṃ dvīyamāṇaṃ balīyasā |
The world is like something caught in a river-current: once seized by the stream, it is dragged along and tossed about by a stronger force. Thus, helpless and deluded, it remains submerged in grief, repeatedly struck by the waves of affliction and disease, and—overpowered by the mighty flow of karma—kept drifting from place to place against its will.
व्याध उवाच
Educational Q&A
Saṃsāra is driven by the powerful current of karma; when one is seized by it, one becomes helplessly tossed between pleasure and pain. The ethical implication is to cultivate discernment and steadiness (dharma-based conduct and inner detachment) rather than being carried away by delusion and grief.
The Vyādha is instructing his listener through a vivid metaphor: like an object swept into a river, the embodied being is dragged by forces stronger than itself. He explains the human condition—repeatedly battered by suffering—so the listener may turn toward dharma and clarity.