झटित्येव प्रयात्येव शरीराद् युवताखगः । क्षणेनैवाऽल्पभाग्यस्य हस्ताच्चिन्तामणिर्यथा ॥ ३५ ॥
jhaṭityēva prayātyēva śarīrād yuvatākhagaḥ | kṣaṇēnaivā’lpabhāgyasya hastāccintāmaṇiryathā || 35 ||
Translation
The bird of youth flies away from the body in an instant, as a wishing-gem slips in a moment from the hand of the unlucky.
Word by word
- jhaṭiti
- in an instant
- ēva
- just
- prayāti
- flies away
- śarīrād
- (śarīrāt) from the body
- yuvatā
- of youth
- khagaḥ
- the bird
- kṣaṇēna
- in a moment
- alpa
- of the unlucky
- bhāgyasya
- fortune
- hastāt
- from the hand
- cintāmaṇir
- (cintāmaṇiḥ) a wishing-gem
- yathā
- as
Meaning
The cintāmaṇi, the wish-fulfilling gem, would give its owner anything; but in the hand of an unlucky man, the commentary says, it is gone at once. Youth is such a gem, or a bird that flies off from the tree of the body. The loss is sudden: "in an instant" (jhaṭiti). The reader is reminded that youth, the gem that could have been used for the highest good, is easily lost by the careless.