योगवासिष्ठः yogavāsiṣṭhaḥ - book-1, chapter-14, verse-19

नूनं निगरणायाशु घनगर्धमनारतम् ।
आखुर्मार्जारकेणेव मरणेनावलोक्यते ॥ १९ ॥

nūnaṃ nigaraṇāyāśu ghanagardhamanāratam ,
ākhurmārjārakeṇeva maraṇenāvalokyate 19

19. nūnam nigaraṇāya āśu ghanagardham anāratam
ākhuḥ mārjārakeṇa iva maraṇena avalokyate

19. Surely, death incessantly observes (a person) with intense eagerness to quickly devour them, just as a cat watches a mouse.

Words meanings summery:

• नूनम् (nūnam) - certainly, surely, indeed

• निगरणाय (nigaraṇāya) - for swallowing, for devouring

• आशु (āśu) - quickly, swiftly

• घनगर्धम् (ghanagardham) - intensely greedy, with great eagerness

• अनारतम् (anāratam) - incessantly, continuously, without interruption

• आखुः (ākhuḥ) - a mouse, a rat

• मार्जारकेण (mārjārakeṇa) - by a cat

• इव (iva) - like, as, as if

• मरणेन (maraṇena) - by death

• अवलोक्यते (avalokyate) - is observed, is watched, is looked upon

Words meanings and morphology

नूनम् (nūnam) - certainly, surely, indeed

(indeclinable)

निगरणाय (nigaraṇāya) - for swallowing, for devouring

(noun)

Dative, neuter, singular of nigaraṇa

nigaraṇa - swallowing, devouring, eating

Action noun from root √gṝ (to swallow) with prefix ni-.

Prefix: ni

Root: gṝ (class 6)

आशु (āśu) - quickly, swiftly

(indeclinable)

घनगर्धम् (ghanagardham) - intensely greedy, with great eagerness

(adjective)

Accusative, neuter, singular of ghanagardha

ghanagardha - intensely greedy, with great eagerness

Karmadhāraya compound of ghana (intense) and gardha (greed/eagerness). Used adverbially here.

Compound type : Karmadhāraya (ghana+gardha)

• ghana – dense, thick, intense, profound
  adjective
• gardha – greed, desire, eagerness, avarice
  noun (masculine)

Note: Used adverbially here.

अनारतम् (anāratam) - incessantly, continuously, without interruption

(indeclinable)

Adverbial form of anārata, a negative compound of nārata (stopped).

Compound type : Nañ-tatpuruṣa (a+nārata)

• a – not, non-
  indeclinable
  Negative prefix
• nārata – stopped, ceased, interrupted
  adjective
  Past Passive Participle
  Past Passive Participle of root √ram (to stop) with prefix ni- (implied or lost in compound formation).
  Prefix: ni
  Root: ram (class 1)

आखुः (ākhuḥ) - a mouse, a rat

(noun)

Nominative, masculine, singular of ākhu

ākhu - mouse, rat

मार्जारकेण (mārjārakeṇa) - by a cat

(noun)

Instrumental, masculine, singular of mārjāraka

mārjāraka - cat

इव (iva) - like, as, as if

(indeclinable)

मरणेन (maraṇena) - by death

(noun)

Instrumental, neuter, singular of maraṇa

maraṇa - death, dying, decease

अवलोक्यते (avalokyate) - is observed, is watched, is looked upon

(verb)

3rd person , singular, passive, present (lat) of avalokya

Passive voice of root √lok (to see) with prefix ava-.

Prefix: ava

Root: lok (class 10)