जनयन्ती परं दाहं परामृष्टाङ्गिका सती । विनाशमेव धत्तेऽन्तर्दीपलेखेव कज्जलम् ॥ ५ ॥
janayantī paraṁ dāhaṁ parāmṛṣṭāṅgikā satī | vināśamēva dhattē’ntardīpalēkhēva kajjalam || 5 ||
Translation
When her body is touched she gives off a fierce burning, and within she holds only destruction, as the flame of a lamp holds soot.
Word by word
- janayantī
- gives off
- paraṁ
- a fierce
- dāhaṁ
- burning
- parāmṛṣṭa
- touched
- aṅgikā
- her body
- satī
- when
- vināśam
- destruction
- ēva
- only
- dhattē
- she holds
- antar
- (antaḥ) within
- dīpa
- of a lamp
- lēkhā
- the flame
- iva
- as
- kajjalam
- soot
Meaning
A lamp flame is bright and beautiful, but touch it and it burns, and what it produces is black soot. Fortune is the same. Touched, that is, spent, lost in part, gambled or stolen, she burns her owner with distress; and what she carries inside is vināśa, ruin, which may come at any moment, to herself or to the one who enjoys her. The image asks the reader to look at both ends of wealth: the light that draws, and the soot that is its real product. The brightness is on the outside; the blackness is what remains.