रोगार्त्तिरङ्गना तृष्णा गम्भीरमपि मानवम् । उत्तानतां नयत्याशु सूर्यांशव इवाऽम्बुजम् ॥ ४५ ॥
rōgārttiraṅganā tṛṣṇā gambhīramapi mānavam | uttānatāṁ nayatyāśu sūryāṁśava ivā’mbujam || 45 ||
Translation
The pain of disease, a woman, and craving quickly make even a deep man shallow, as the sun's rays make a lotus open.
Word by word
- rōga
- of disease
- ārttir
- (ārtiḥ) the pain
- aṅganā
- a woman
- tṛṣṇā
- and craving
- gambhīram
- deep
- api
- even
- mānavam
- a man
- uttānatāṁ
- shallow
- nayati
- make
- āśu
- quickly
- sūrya
- of the sun
- aṁśava
- (aṃśavaḥ) the rays
- iva
- as
- ambujam
- a lotus
Meaning
A lotus bud is deep and closed; the sun's rays open it wide, and its depth is gone. So three things open a grave, self-contained person and make them shallow (uttāna): the pain of illness, passion for a woman, and craving. The commentary takes "deep" as the steady man who has vowed never to ask, and "shallow" as made light by begging. The verb follows Dwivedi's reading here. The reader may notice what makes them lose their depth: what sends them out of themselves, asking.