वासोविलेपनैर्यानि लालितानि पुनः पुनः । तान्यङ्गान्यङ्ग लुण्ठन्ति क्रव्यादाः सर्वदेहिनाम् ॥ ४ ॥
vāsōvilēpanairyāni lālitāni punaḥ punaḥ | tānyaṅgānyaṅga luṇṭhanti kravyādāḥ sarvadēhinām || 4 ||
Translation
Those limbs, dear one, cherished again and again with clothes and unguents, the flesh-eaters tear at in the end, the limbs of every embodied being.
Word by word
- vāsō
- (vāsaḥ) with clothes
- vilēpanair
- (vilepanaiḥ) and unguents
- yāni
- those which
- lālitāni
- cherished
- punaḥ
- again and again
- tāni
- those
- aṅgāni
- limbs
- aṅga
- dear one
- luṇṭhanti
- tear at
- kravyādāḥ
- the flesh-eaters
- sarva
- of every
- dēhinām
- embodied being
Meaning
Bodies are dressed, anointed with scents and oils, cared for every day; and in the end, vultures and jackals tear them apart. The commentary: this is their final state. The verse widens to "all embodied beings" (sarvadehinām): it is true of every body, the lover's and the beloved's alike. The reader may hold both pictures at once, the adorned body and the torn one, and see they are the same body at two moments.