VERSE 12

Thus while Time sports, life fleets unobserved, Yet desire does not leave us, but holds us in its grip.

Like a beautiful damsel, time dances on the stage of life. Every step of hers, night and day, summer and winter, every clap of her lovely palms, quietly cuts off the days of your life. As the Kural has it, every day is but the sawing off of a slice from your life; it is nothing but that, though it seems beautiful.

While speaking about the Maayaa of the world, Sri Sankara also portrays its beauty. Is there a more enchanting scene in the world than dawn and evening? The star-spangled sky at mid-night is a splendor the like of which there is nothing else. The beauty of the seasons is a delight. But what are all these? They are just a relentless sawing off of your Iife-span. We know this; yet we do not give up the desires of the flesh. What folly?

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