nearer to our fall day by day, our condition being comparable to that of trees on the sandy bank of a river.
[ चिरपरिचिताः—A simpler reading is चिरपरिगताः । ] |
49. The life of man (as ordained) is limited to one hundred years; half of it is spent in night. and out of the other half one half again is passed in childhood and old age; and the rest which has its illness, bereavements, and troubles is spent in serving (others). What happiness can there be for mortals in a life (again) which is even more uncertain than the ripples (on the surface) of water?
क्षणं बालो भूत्वा क्षणमपि युवा कामरसिकः |
50. Now a child for a while and then a youth of erotic ways, a destitute now for a while and then in abundance, just like an actor, man makes at the end of his role -- when diseased in all limbs by age and wrinkled all over the body--his exit