जानन्नपि च किं कुर्यादशक्तिरपरिक्रमः।
भिद्यमानमिवाशक्तस्त्रातुमन्यो नगो नगम्॥
jānann api ca kiṁ kuryād aśaktir aparikramaḥ
bhidyamānam ivāśaktas trātum anyo nago nagam
jānan api ca = even by knowing [about my current condition]; kim = what; kuryāt = can he do; aśaktiḥ = he is incapable; aparikramaḥ = he cannot walk; bhidyamānam = that is being broken apart by the wind; iva = he is like; aśaktaḥ trātum = that cannot protect; anyaḥ nagaḥ = a tree; nagam = [another] tree.
Even by knowing [about my current condition], what can he do? He is incapable. He cannot walk. He is like a tree that cannot protect [another] tree that is being broken apart by the wind.1
1 Literally, the second line means: “He is like another tree that cannot protect a tree that is being broken apart.”
Aparikramaḥ indicates that [the young ascetic’s elderly father] was lame.