तावदागत एवाऽऽशु कुतोऽपि परिदृश्यते । घनान्ध्यतिमिराकाङ्क्षी मुने मरणकौशिकः ॥ १४ ॥
tāvadāgata ēvā’’śu kutō’pi paridṛśyatē | ghanāndhyatimirākāṅkṣī munē maraṇakauśikaḥ || 14 ||
Translation
so long, quickly, from somewhere, the owl of death is seen to have come, O sage, longing for thick blinding darkness.
Word by word
- tāvad
- (tāvat) so long
- āgata
- (āgataḥ) to have come
- ēva
- just
- āśu
- quickly
- kutō
- (kutaḥ) from
- api
- somewhere
- paridṛśyatē
- is seen
- ghana
- thick
- āndhya
- blinding
- timira
- darkness
- ākāṅkṣī
- longing for
- munē
- O sage
- maraṇa
- of death
- kauśikaḥ
- the owl
Meaning
While the crane of age cries, the owl of death arrives, from nowhere one can name, longing for the darkness of unconsciousness. The owl comes at dusk. The pairing of crane and owl gives the sequence of the last years: the loud complaints of age, then the silent bird of the night.