पिबन्ति पांसवो रक्तं क्रव्यादाश्चाऽप्यनेकशः । चर्माणि च शिवा भुङ्क्ते खं यान्ति प्राणवायवः ॥ २९ ॥
pibanti pāṁsavō raktaṁ kravyādāścā’pyanēkaśaḥ | carmāṇi ca śivā bhuṅktē khaṁ yānti prāṇavāyavaḥ || 29 ||
Translation
The dust drinks the blood, the flesh-eaters in great number, the jackal eats the skin, and the breaths go off into the sky.
Word by word
- pibanti
- drinks
- pāṁsavō
- (pāṃsavaḥ) the dust
- raktaṁ
- the blood
- kravyādāś
- (kravyādāḥ) the flesh-eaters
- ca
- and
- api
- also
- anēkaśaḥ
- in great number
- carmāṇi
- the skin
- śivā
- the jackal
- bhuṅktē
- eats
- khaṁ
- into the sky
- yānti
- go off
- prāṇa
- the life
- vāyavaḥ
- breaths
Meaning
The body's last division: blood to the dust, flesh to the scavengers, skin to the jackal, and the life-breaths back into the air from which they came. Each part returns to its element. The verse is a meditation on dissolution, and also a quiet statement that nothing in the body was ever its own.