When death's summons come, the five senses desert the body - mantrA 188

srigurubhyO namahA |
The 188th mantrA highlights the fact the ones karmA dictates the allotted life span and that the physical body itself is something that is born from that kArmic account of ones merits and demerits.

ஐவர்க்கு ஒருசெய் விளைந்து கிடந்தது
ஐவரும் அச்செய்யைக் காத்து வருவர்கள்
ஐவர்க்கு நாயகன் ஓலை வருதலால்
ஐவரும் அச்செய்யைக் காவல் விட்டாரே. I.5.2.188

One field lay ready and ripe for the Five senses to work,
The Five, that one field watched and tilled;
But when the grim summons came from the Lord of the Five,
All the Five for ever fled and quitted the field. I.5.2.188

Com - One field lay ready and ripe for the Five senses to work, (due to the effects of karma) There was the body, born to be the field of activity for the five ‘actors’ (brahma , etc) The Five, that one field watched and tilled; and the five perform their duties by sustaining this body and ensuring actions and the fruits of those actions to be awarded this body. But when the grim summons came from the Lord of the Five, But at the end of one’s accorded life span, when the final ‘notice’ (to end this life) is issued by the supreme siva, under whose authority the five perform their allotted functions All the Five for ever fled and quitted the field. The five desert the body (that they have so far created and carefully sustained) leaving it fall to the ground inanimate.

*Though the English verse identifies the five as the five senses, what is indicated by the original is somewhat different. The five refers to the five fold manifestation that corresponds to the five functions. Brahma, Vishnu, rudra, mahEshwara and sadasiva (responsible for creation, sustenance, destruction, veiling and unveiling respectively) are indicated by the five. These five engage in the level of the body and fuction by ensuring the continued performance of actions and the experience of the fruits of those actions – and this they do under the command of the Lord. When the sum of one’s karma that dictated this life is exhausted, then under the authority of the same supreme Lord (paramasiva), the five leave this body and the body subsequently perishes. The words of siddar pattinatthAr – vinai bhOgame oru dEham kandAi – that the experience of the fruits of actions (karma) is the seed of the physical body, is worthy of note here to understand this verse better.

thirucchitrambalam ||