शून्यं नगरमाभाति भाति च्छिन्नलतो द्रुमः । भात्यनावृष्टिमान् देशो न जराजर्जरं वपुः ॥ १७ ॥
śūnyaṁ nagaramābhāti bhāti cchinnalatō drumaḥ | bhātyanāvṛṣṭimān dēśō na jarājarjaraṁ vapuḥ || 17 ||
Translation
An empty city may look fair, a tree with its creepers cut away may look fair, a land without rain may look fair; but not a body worn by age.
Word by word
- śūnyaṁ
- an empty
- nagaram
- city
- ābhāti
- may look fair
- bhāti
- may look fair (twice)
- cchinna
- cut away
- latō
- (lataḥ) with its creepers
- drumaḥ
- a tree
- anāvṛṣṭimān
- without rain
- dēśō
- (deśaḥ) a land
- na
- but not
- jarā
- by age
- jarjaraṁ
- worn
- vapuḥ
- a body
Meaning
Even ruins have a kind of beauty: a deserted city, a stripped tree, a drought-struck land, the commentary says, can still be lovely in some way. The body worn by age has none. The verse is the harshest in the sarga, and it is said not to wound the old but to undo the young man's pride in his body before age does it for him.