Life's drum shatters to pieces - mantrA 189

srigurubhyO namahA |
In the next mantrA, the sage introduces the classic metaphor of the body being an earthen / clay drum to highlight the fact that our lives are momentary.

மத்தளி ஒன்றுள தாளம் இரண்டுள
அத்துள்ளே வாழும் அரசனும் அங்குளன்
அத்துள்ளெ வாழும் அரசன் புறப்பட்டால்
மத்தளி மண்ணாய் மயங்கிய வாறே. I.5.3.189

One this body-drum, two the rhythms keeping time,

Five the masters who, inside, make display;
But when the great king, indwelling, departed,
The drum lay shattered, a heap of inert clay. I.5.3.189

Com - One this body-drum, There is one body made of mud (i.e. elemental) two the rhythms keeping time, and within it there are the two breaths , inhalation and exhalation, that mark the rhythm of life. Five the masters who, inside, make display; and inside such a body (born of mud) there dwells the king and master – the jIva or soul. But when the great king, indwelling, departed, and when at the end of life, the indwelling jIva departs this body the drum lay shattered, a heap of inert clay. This body temple becomes nothing more than the mud it was fashioned from.

*The term ‘மத்தளி ‘refers to this body that arises from mud – i.e. it is a body that arises out of inert matter due to the operation of maya. The term ‘மண்ணாய் மயங்கிய ‘ means that the body so born out of inert matter changes eventually into the same inert matter again (when the principle of life deserts this body).  Note the Biblical sayings ‘ashes to ashes, dust to dust’; ‘dust thou art to dust thou returnest’ here which speak of the same truth. From the above verse it becomes clear that this physical body arises out of inert matter and will again become merged into the same inert matter.

thirucchitrambalam ||