Shloka 15
Gṛhastha-vṛtti and Niyama: Models of Householder Livelihood and Discipline (गृहस्थवृत्ति-नियमाः)
निमेषोन्मेषफेनेन अहोरात्रजलेन च । कामग्राहेण घोरेण वेदयज्ञप्लवेन च
vyāsa uvāca | nimeṣonmeṣaphenena ahorātrajalenaca | kāmagrāheṇa ghoreṇa vedayajñaplavena ca ||
व्यास म्हणाले—काळरूपी महान नदी वाहतच राहते. निमेष-उन्मेष हा तिचा फेस, आणि दिवस-रात्र हा तिचा जलप्रवाह. त्यात कामरूपी घोर ग्राह दडलेला आहे; वेद व यज्ञ हे तिच्या पार जाण्यासाठी नौकेसारखे आहेत.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Life is irresistibly carried forward by Time; desire is a peril that drags beings down, while Vedic wisdom and disciplined righteous practice (yajña as duty/offering) function as a ‘raft’—a means to cross the dangerous current toward liberation-oriented ends.
Vyāsa delivers an allegorical description: Time is imagined as a mighty river whose foam is the rapid succession of moments (blinks), whose water is day and night, and within which desire lurks like a crocodile; the Vedas and sacrifices are presented as the boat/raft enabling beings to navigate this flow.