Man as Seen Through the Eyes of Death, pp. 587-588

Opening Remarks
Death continues to discourage Savitri painting a bleak and dismal picture of man and his life.

Vain discovery
His mind is a hunter upon tracks unknown;
Amusing Time with vain discovery,
He deepens with thought the mystery of his fate
And turns to song his laughter and his tears.

Death continues that though man is a hunter upon unknown tracks, all his discoveries are simply vain amusements of Time. Man tries to find the mystery of his fate by going deep within his thoughts but only ends up turning his laughter and tears, his joys and grief into songs.

Cattle of the gods
His mortality vexing with the immortal’s dreams,
Troubling his transience with the infinite’s breath,
They gave him hungers which no food can fill;
He is the cattle of the shepherd gods.

It is the gods who gave him hungers that no food can satisfy. It is the gods who vex his mortal existence with immortal dreams of heaven. They trouble his transient life with the breath of the infinite. Man is the cattle of the gods kept tied by them for their use.

Tied to his body
His body the tether with which he is tied,
They cast for fodder grief and hope and joy:
His pasture ground they have fenced with Ignorance.

Man’s body is the rope with which he is tied. He is fed with the fodder of grief and hope and joy. His feeding ground is fenced with Ignorance.

A journey without goal
Into his fragile undefended breast
They have breathed a courage that is met by death,
They have given a wisdom that is mocked by night,
They have traced a journey that foresees no goal.

The gods breathe courage in man’s fragile undefended breast only to be met by death. They give him wisdom that is mocked by night and ignorance. They have traced a goalless journey for man.

Aimless man
Aimless man toils in an uncertain world,
Lulled by inconstant pauses of his pain,
Scourged like a beast by the infinite desire,
Bound to the chariot of the dreadful gods.

Man toils aimlessly in an uncertain world lulled by inconstant pauses due to pain from time to time. He is scourged like a beast endless desires bound to the chariot of the dreadful gods.

Return to thy body
But if thou still canst hope and still wouldst love,
Return to thy body’s shell, thy tie to earth,
And with thy heart’s little remnants try to live.

After mocking at the aimless life of Man, Death says that if still Savitri wants to love, she should return back to the shell of her body with which she is tied to earth and live with the little remnants of her heart that still hopes.

Hope not
Hope not to win back to thee Satyavan.

But she should not hope to win back Satyavan.

Gifts to soothe
Yet since thy strength deserves no trivial crown,
Gifts I can give to soothe thy wounded life.

Yet since her strength deserves few gifts, Death is willing to grant her some wishes to soothe her wounded life.

The pacts which transient beings make
The pacts which transient beings make with fate,
And the wayside sweetness earth-bound hearts would pluck,
These if thy will accepts make freely thine.

Death promises to give her gifts which transient beings accept to soothe the impact of adverse fate and the wayside sweetness that hearts bound to earth would pluck. Death promises to give these to Savitri if she would accept to take.

Deceiving prize
Choose a life’s hopes for thy deceiving prize.”

He closes by asking Savitri to choose as a prize the transient deceiving gifts as hopes for her life.

Closing remarks
Death pauses after showing to Savitri the transient nature of everything and the illusions of hope that is implanted by the gods.