पेलवं शरदीवाऽभ्रमस्नेह इव दीपकः । तरङ्गक इवाऽऽलोलं गतमेवोपलक्ष्यते ॥ ६ ॥
pēlavaṁ śaradīvā’bhramasnēha iva dīpakaḥ | taraṅgaka ivā’’lōlaṁ gatamēvōpalakṣyatē || 6 ||
Translation
Thin as an autumn cloud, like a lamp without oil, restless as a ripple, life is seen only when it is already gone.
Word by word
- pēlavaṁ
- thin
- śaradi
- autumn
- iva
- as, like
- abhram
- a cloud
- asnēha
- without oil
- dīpakaḥ
- a lamp
- taraṅgaka
- a ripple
- ālōlaṁ
- restless
- gatam
- gone
- ēva
- only when it is already
- upalakṣyatē
- is seen
Meaning
An autumn cloud is thin and soon dissolves; a lamp without oil burns a moment and goes out; a ripple is never still. But the last phrase is the deepest: life "is seen only as gone" (gatam eva upalakṣyate). One never sees it while it passes; one notices it in looking back. The years appear only when they are over. The reader may test this against memory: how much of the life already lived was seen while it was being lived? The practice the verse points to is attention, so that life is seen while it is here.