अविश्रान्तमनापूर्णमापदां परमास्पदम् । नीडं रोगविहङ्गानामायुरायासनं दृढम् ॥ १५ ॥
aviśrāntamanāpūrṇamāpadāṁ paramāspadam | nīḍaṁ rōgavihaṅgānāmāyurāyāsanaṁ dṛḍham || 15 ||
Translation
Life, without rest and never fulfilled, is the very home of calamities, a nest for the birds of disease, a hard labour.
Word by word
- aviśrāntam
- without rest
- anāpūrṇam
- never fulfilled
- āpadāṁ
- of calamities
- param
- the very
- āspadam
- home
- nīḍaṁ
- a nest
- rōga
- of disease
- vihaṅgānām
- for the birds
- āyur
- (āyuḥ) life
- āyāsanaṁ
- a labour
- dṛḍham
- hard
Meaning
Four descriptions, each from experience. Life is aviśrānta, "without rest": the commentary, it has no ceasing from toil. It is anāpūrṇa, "never fulfilled": it never reaches the state where nothing more is wanted. It is the "home of calamities" (āpadām āspadam). And it is a nest where the birds of disease come to roost. The whole is āyāsana, a hard and wearing labour. The word "never fulfilled" names something every reader knows: however much one gets, the wanting goes on. Seeing this clearly is not pessimism; it is the beginning of looking for fulfilment somewhere it can actually be found.