Abhanga 4438
Vrddha-paṇa-jarā — body-trembles.
The verse
वृद्धपणीं आली जरा । शरीर कांपे थरथरा ॥१॥
आयुष्य गेलें हें कळेना । स्मरा वेगीं पंढरिराणा ॥ध्रु.॥
दांत दाढा पडिल्या ओस । हनुवटि भेटे नाकास ॥२॥
हात पाय राहिलें कान । नेत्रा पाझर हाले मान ॥३॥
अंगकांति परतली । चिरगुटा ऐसी जाली ॥४॥
आड पडे जिव्हा लोटे । शब्द नये मुखा वाटे॥५॥
लांब लोंबताती अंड । भरभरा वाजे गांड ॥६॥
तुका म्हणे आतां तरी । स्मरा वेगीं हरी हरी ॥७॥
Literal translation
Vrddha-paṇa-jarā — body-trembles. Āyuṣya-gone — remember-Paṇḍharī-rāṇā. Teeth-vacant — chin-meets-nose. Hands-feet-ears-stopped — eyes-leak-head-shakes. Anga-kānti-faded — like-worn-rag. Jihvā-falls — no-śabda-from-mouth. Testicles-hang — anus-noisy. Tukā: at-least-now — Hari-Hari.
What it means
★★ THE canonical 8-verse old-age-decay text — among the most-vivid mortality-meditations in the Gathā. Old-age has come, jarā; the body trembles. Life has gone, one doesn't realize — quickly remember Paṇḍharī-rāṇā. Teeth and molars have fallen, vacant; chin meets nose. Hands, feet, ears have stopped; eyes leak, head shakes. Body-lustre has receded; (the body) has become like a worn rag. Tongue falls and rolls; speech doesn't come from the mouth-way. Long hang the testicles; the anus makes noisy-air. Tukā says: at least now — quickly remember Hari, Hari. Visceral honesty: the 7-detail-decay-inventory (trembling / teeth / hands-feet-ears / lustre / tongue / private-parts) refuses-euphemism. The closing ātām-tarī smarā-vēgīm Hari-Hari (at-least-now-quickly-remember-Hari-Hari) is a desperate-still-urgent call. Pair with 3071-3073 (3-stage-of-life cluster), 4439 (companion vrddha-paṇa-text).
For someone today
Tukārām: the-body-trembles-teeth-fall-chin-meets-nose-hands-feet-stopped-eyes-leak-tongue-falls-genitals-collapse — at-least-now-quickly-remember-Hari-Hari.
Where this applies
- ★★ Tukārām's THE 7-verse vivid-old-age-decay canonical mortality-vividness