Devanagari
ते चण्डवेगानुचरा: पुरञ्जनपुरं यदा ।
हर्तुमारेभिरे तत्र प्रत्यषेधत्प्रजागर: ॥ १५ ॥
Verse text
te caṇḍavegānucarāḥ
puraṣjana-puraṁ yadā
hartum ārebhire tatra
pratyaṣedhat prajāgaraḥ
Synonyms
te
—
all of them
;
caṇḍavega
—
of Caṇḍavega
;
anucarāḥ
—
followers
;
puraṣjana
—
of King Puraṣjana
;
puram
—
city
;
yadā
—
when
;
hartum
—
to plunder
;
ārebhire
—
began
;
tatra
—
there
;
pratyaṣedhat
—
defended
;
prajāgaraḥ
—
the big serpent .
Translation
When King Gandharva-rāja [Caṇḍavega] and his followers began to plunder the city of Puraṣjana, a snake with five hoods began to defend the city.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
When Caṇḍavega and his followers began to plunder the city of Puraṣjana, the watchman began to defend the city.
When they began to plunder the body which had surpassed fifty years, the watchman, the life air, defended it. “Do not loot this city while I am here!” he said with pride. Even if one reaches fifty years, for two or three years the strength does not decrease.
Purport
When one is sleeping, the life air remains active in different dreams. The five hoods of the snake indicate that the life air is surrounded by five kinds of air, known as
prāṇa, apāna, vyāna, udāna
and
samāna.
When the body is inactive, the
prāṇa,
or the life air, is active. Up to the age of fifty one can actively work for sense gratification, but after the fiftieth year one’s energy decreases, although one can with great strain work for two or three more years — perhaps up to the fifty-fifth year. Thus the fifty-fifth year is generally taken by government regulations as the final year for retirement. The energy, which is fatigued after fifty years, is figuratively described herein as a serpent with five hoods.