Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.2.54
कामं नयतु मां देव: किमर्धेनात्मनो हि मे ।
दीनेन जीवता दु:खमनेन विधुरायुषा ॥ ५४ ॥
kāmaṁ nayatu māṁ devaḥ
[kaamam nayatu maam devah]
kim ardhenātmano hi me
[kim ardhenaatmano hi me]
dīnena jīvatā duḥkham
[deenena jeevataa duhkham]
anena vidhurāyuṣā
[anena vidhuraayushaa]
Word-for-word
kāmam
—
as He likes
nayatu
—
let Him take away
mām
—
me
devaḥ
—
the Supreme Lord
kim
—
what use
ardhena
—
with half
ātmanaḥ
—
of the body
hi
—
indeed
me
—
my
dīnena
—
poor
jīvatā
—
living
duḥkham
—
in suffering
anena
—
this
vidhura-āyuṣā
—
having a lifetime full of affliction.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
kāmaṁ nayatu māṁ devaḥ
kāmam
as He likes
nayatu
let Him take away
mām
me
devaḥ
the Supreme Lord
kim ardhenātmano hi me
kim
what use
ardhena
with half
ātmanaḥ
of the body
hi
indeed
me
my
dīnena jīvatā duḥkham
dīnena
poor
jīvatā
living
duḥkham
in suffering
anena vidhurāyuṣā
anena
this
vidhura-āyuṣā
having a lifetime full of affliction.
If unkind Providence takes away my wife, who is half my body, why should He not take me also? What is the use of my living with half of my body, bereaved by loss of my wife? What shall I gain in this way?
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
Let the Lord take me also. What is the use of this miserable half of my body, even if it lives a long time, since it will only experience suffering?
Personal Guidance
The bird begs to be taken too, calling his wife 'half my body.' Worldly devotion can be so total that the survivor pictures no future. Yet grief that begs for death has not yet met the truth that the loved one was never the body.
Reflection Questions
- Whose loss have you treated as the loss of 'half your body'?
- How might that love be reborn when re-grounded in the eternity of the soul?
My note
Source: vedabase.io