जराजरठया नित्यं तपःप्रसररूक्षया । जटावल्ल्याऽऽवृतस्कन्धं ससंध्याभ्रमिवाऽचलम् ॥ १८ ॥
jarājaraṭhayā nityaṁ tapaḥprasararūkṣayā | jaṭāvallyā’’vṛtaskandhaṁ sasaṁdhyābhramivā’calam || 18 ||
Translation
his shoulders covered with a creeper of matted hair, grey with age and rough from long austerity, so that he looked like a mountain with evening clouds;
Word by word
- jarā
- with age
- jaraṭhayā
- grey
- nityaṁ
- long
- tapaḥ
- of austerity
- prasara
- from the course
- rūkṣayā
- rough
- jaṭā
- of matted hair
- vallyā
- with a creeper
- āvṛta
- covered
- skandhaṁ
- his shoulders
- sa
- with
- saṁdhyā
- evening
- abhram
- clouds
- iva
- like
- acalam
- a mountain
Meaning
The commentary explains the image: the hair, whitened by age and roughened by austerity, lies on his shoulders like clouds tinged by the evening light on a mountain.