आपतन्ति प्रतिपदं यथाकालं दहन्ति च । दुःखचिन्ता नरं मूढं तृणमग्निशिखा इव ॥ ४० ॥
āpatanti pratipadaṁ yathākālaṁ dahanti ca | duḥkhacintā naraṁ mūḍhaṁ tṛṇamagniśikhā iva || 40 ||
Translation
Anxious sorrows fall on a deluded person at every step and burn him in their season, as flames burn grass.
Word by word
- āpatanti
- fall
- pratipadaṁ
- at every step
- yathākālaṁ
- in their season
- dahanti
- burn
- ca
- and
- duḥkha
- sorrows
- cintā
- (cintāḥ) anxious
- naraṁ
- on a person
- mūḍhaṁ
- deluded
- tṛṇam
- grass
- agni
- of fire
- śikhā
- (śikhāḥ) flames
- iva
- as
Meaning
Prati-padam, at every step; the commentary says, moment by moment. Dry grass needs only a spark. The fire comes from outside, but what makes the fire possible is the state of the grass, and the next verse turns the image on just that point.