जरसोपहतो देहो धत्ते जर्जरतां गतः । तुषारनिकराकीर्णपरिम्लानाम्बुजश्रियम् ॥ २१ ॥
jarasōpahatō dēhō dhattē jarjaratāṁ gataḥ | tuṣāranikarākīrṇaparimlānāmbujaśriyam || 21 ||
Translation
The body struck by age, gone to decrepitude, takes on the look of a lotus withered under a heap of frost.
Word by word
- jarasā
- by age
- upahatō
- (upahataḥ) struck
- dēhō
- (dehaḥ) the body
- dhattē
- takes on
- jarjaratāṁ
- decrepitude
- gataḥ
- gone to
- tuṣāra
- of frost
- nikara
- under a heap
- ākīrṇa
- covered
- parimlāna
- withered
- ambuja
- of a lotus
- śriyam
- the look
Meaning
A lotus caught by frost wilts and browns. The aged body has the same look. The verse is quiet after the violent images before it: not destruction now, but withering. The reader may see in it the stillness of the very old.