हिमाशनिरिवाऽम्भोजं वात्येव शरदम्बुकम् । देहं जरा नाशयति नदी तीरतरुं यथा ॥ २ ॥
himāśanirivā’mbhōjaṁ vātyēva śaradambukam | dēhaṁ jarā nāśayati nadī tīrataruṁ yathā || 2 ||
Translation
As the thunderbolt of frost destroys a lotus, as a gale an autumn dewdrop, as a river the tree on its bank, so old age destroys the body.
Word by word
- hima
- of frost
- aśanir
- (aśaniḥ) the thunderbolt
- iva
- as
- ambhōjaṁ
- a lotus
- vātyā
- a gale
- ēva
- just
- śarad
- autumn
- ambukam
- dewdrop
- dēhaṁ
- the body
- jarā
- old age
- nāśayati
- destroys
- nadī
- a river
- tīra
- on its bank
- taruṁ
- the tree
- yathā
- as
Meaning
Three images of slow or sudden ruin: frost on a lotus, wind on a dewdrop hanging from a leaf, as the commentary says, and a river eating the bank under a tree. Old age works in all three ways: by blight, by a breath, by erosion. The reader may recognise each in the ageing they have seen: the gradual, the sudden, and the one that undermines from below.