देहोऽपि ममताभाक् चेत्तर्ह्यसौ नात्मवत् प्रिय: । यज्जीर्यत्यपि देहेऽस्मिन् जीविताशा बलीयसी ॥ ५३ ॥
deho ’pi mamatā-bhāk cet tarhy asau nātma-vat priyaḥ yaj jīryaty api dehe ’smin jīvitāśā balīyasī
- dehaḥ
- the body
- api
- also
- mamatā
- of possessiveness
- bhāk
- the focus
- cet
- if
- tarhi
- then
- asau
- that body
- na
- not
- ātma-vat
- in the same way as the soul
- priyaḥ
- dear
- yat
- because
- jīryati
- when it is growing old
- api
- even
- dehe
- the body
- asmin
- this
- jīvita-āśā
- the desire to remain living
- balīyasī
- very strong
If a person comes to the stage of considering the body “mine” instead of “me,” he will certainly not consider the body as dear as his own self. After all, even as the body is growing old and useless, one’s desire to continue living remains strong.