Shloka 6

कālacakra-वर्णनम् तथा āśrama-धarma-निरूपणम्

The Wheel of Time and the Norms of the Āśramas

Devanagari script

महाहंकारदीप्तं च गुणसंजातवर्तनम्‌ | अरतिग्रहणानीकं॑ शोकसंहारवर्तनम्‌

Transliteration

mahāhaṅkāradīptaṃ ca guṇasaṃjātavartanam | aratigrahaṇānīkaṃ śokasaṃhāravartanam

Translation

వాయుదేవుడు అన్నాడు—ఇది మహా అహంకారంతో దగ్ధమై, గుణజనితమైన మార్గంలో సాగుతుంది. దీని సైన్యం గ్రహణాసక్తి మరియు అరతి తో కూడి ఉంటుంది; దీని పథం శోకాన్ని సమీకరించి పెంచేది.

Word by Word

महाहंकारदीप्तम्inflamed by great ego

चand

गुणसंजातवर्तनम्having conduct arising from the guṇas

अरतिग्रहणानीकम्whose army is the seizing of discontent

शोकसंहारवर्तनम्having a course that is the destruction of sorrow

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyu (Vāyudeva)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Ego (ahaṅkāra) and guṇa-driven impulses generate a momentum that recruits ‘grasping’ and ‘discontent’ as its forces, culminating in accumulated grief. The ethical thrust is to recognize these inner drivers and restrain them, since unchecked self-importance and craving reliably mature into sorrow.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva is describing an inner adversary in martial imagery—something that ‘blazes’ with ego, proceeds under the guṇas, and advances with an ‘army’ of grasping and dissatisfaction—warning that its trajectory leads to sorrow. The verse functions as a diagnostic portrayal of the mind’s destructive pattern rather than an external battlefield event.