पयसीव जरत्पर्णं वायाविव जरत्तृणम् । नभसीव शरन्मेघश्चिन्ताचक्रे भ्रमाम्यहम् ॥ ९ ॥
payasīva jaratparṇaṁ vāyāviva jarattṛṇam | nabhasīva śaranmēghaścintācakrē bhramāmyaham || 9 ||
Translation
Like an old leaf on the water, like an old straw in the wind, like an autumn cloud in the sky, I go round and round in the wheel of cares.
Word by word
- payasi
- on the water
- iva
- like (thrice)
- jarat
- an old
- parṇaṁ
- leaf
- vāyau
- in the wind
- tṛṇam
- straw
- nabhasi
- in the sky
- śarat
- an autumn
- mēghaś
- (meghaḥ) cloud
- cintā
- of cares
- cakrē
- in the wheel
- bhramāmi
- go round and round
- aham
- I
Meaning
Three things that are moved and do not move themselves: a dead leaf turning in an eddy, a straw in the wind, a thin autumn cloud drifting across the sky. "I go round in the wheel of cares" (cintācakre bhramāmi). The word "old" (jarat) is twice repeated: what is carried this way has already lost its life. The reader may watch a single anxiety in themselves and see how it carries them round the same circuit again and again, arriving nowhere.