जरसा वक्रतामेति शुक्लावयवपल्लवा । तात तन्वी तनुर्नृणां लता पुष्पानता यथा ॥ २८ ॥
jarasā vakratāmēti śuklāvayavapallavā | tāta tanvī tanurnṛṇāṁ latā puṣpānatā yathā || 28 ||
Translation
Dear one, by age the slender body of men becomes bent, its limbs, the leaves, turned white, like a creeper bowed with flowers.
Word by word
- jarasā
- by age
- vakratām
- bent
- ēti
- becomes
- śukla
- turned white
- avayava
- its limbs
- pallavā
- the leaves
- tāta
- dear one
- tanvī
- slender
- tanur
- (tanuḥ) the body
- nṛṇāṁ
- of men
- latā
- a creeper
- puṣpa
- with flowers
- ānatā
- bowed
- yathā
- like
Meaning
A creeper heavy with white flowers bends to the ground. The body bends with age, the commentary says, its limbs whitened. The image is unexpectedly gentle: the stoop of age as a creeper bowing under blossoms. The reader may hold this image beside the harsher ones: age is also a kind of flowering.