केदारविरटद्भेककण्ठत्वक्कोणभङ्गुरे । वागुरावलये जन्तोः सुहृत्सुजनसङ्गमे ॥ २ ॥
kēdāraviraṭadbhēkakaṇṭhatvakkōṇabhaṅgurē | vāgurāvalayē jantōḥ suhṛtsujanasaṅgamē || 2 ||
Translation
as fragile as the skin at the corner of the throat of a frog croaking in a paddy field; the company of friends and good people a ring of nets for a creature;
Word by word
- kēdāra
- in a paddy field
- viraṭad
- (viraṭat) croaking
- bhēka
- of a frog
- kaṇṭha
- of the throat
- tvak
- the skin
- kōṇa
- at the corner
- bhaṅgurē
- as fragile as
- vāgurā
- of nets
- valayē
- a ring
- jantōḥ
- for a creature
- suhṛt
- of friends
- sujana
- and good people
- saṅgamē
- the company
Meaning
Two more images of the rains. The frog croaks in the flooded field, and the skin of its throat swells and empties, swells and empties: that, the commentary says, is how unsteady life and body are. And the company of friends and kin, which one would think a comfort, is a ring of snares (vāgurā-valaya), like the creepers and bushes of a forest stretched out like nets, the commentary says, because it holds one back from the higher way. The verse is not unkind to friendship; it says that affection, too, can hold a creature (jantu) where it is. The reader may ask which of their ties lift them and which keep them in the field with the frogs.