Root text: https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/tsongkhapa/three-principal-aspects

Verses 7–8 of Tsongkhapa’s Three Principal Aspects of the Path:

Beings are swept along by the powerful current of the four rivers, Tightly bound by the chains of their karma, so difficult to undo, Ensnared within the iron trap of their self-grasping, And enshrouded in the thick darkness of ignorance.

Again and yet again, they are reborn in limitless saṃsāra, And constantly tormented by the three forms of suffering. This is the current condition of all your mothers from previous lives. Contemplate their plight and generate supreme bodhichitta. 

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Explanation of the image

Top Left (The River): A figure is swept along by a strong current, symbolizing the overwhelming force of the “four rivers” (often explained as birth, aging, sickness, and death, or as the four floods of desire, becoming, views, and ignorance).

Top Right (The Chains & Iron Trap): A person bound in chains within an iron trap, representing both the binding power of karma and the imprisoning delusion of self-grasping—the mistaken belief in a solid, inherent “I.” This delusion is the root of samsara.

Bottom Left (The Darkness): A figure obscured by thick clouds of shadow, illustrating the pervasive ignorance that conceals the true nature of reality and sustains self-grasping.

Bottom Right (Aging & Suffering): Figures showing frailty and decline, pointing to the cycle of rebirth and the “three forms of suffering” (suffering of suffering, suffering of change, and pervasive suffering) that define life in samsara.