by Bibek Debroy
The Tenth Skandha will be continued in Volume 3.
1 For example, shlokas 2.4.10, 4.1.2 and 4.5.11 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad use the two expressions together.
2 Chandogya Upanishad, 7.1.2.
3 Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, F.E. Pargiter, Oxford University Press, London, 1922.
4 Sutas were bards, minstrels, raconteurs.
5 Ugrashravas was a suta.
6 The Critical Edition of the Valmiki Ramayana was brought out by the Baroda Oriental Institute, now part of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata was brought out by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune.
7 The Bhagavad Gita translation was published in 2006, the translation of the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata in ten volumes between 2010 and 2014 (with a box set in 2015) and the translation of the Critical Edition of the Valmiki Ramayana in 2017. The translations are by Bibek Debroy, and in each case, the publisher is Penguin.
8 The Bhagavatamahapuranam, Nag Publishers, Delhi, 1987. This is a reprint of the Kshemaraja Shrikrishnadass, Venkateshvara Press, Bombay, text.
9 https://web.archive.org/web/20081012022829/http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gretil/1_sanskr/3_purana/bhagp/bhp1-12u.htm
10 http://www.ochs.org.uk/research/bhagavata-purana-research-project
11 The Bhagavata Purana, Selected Readings, Ravi M. Gupta and Kenneth R. Valpey, Columbia University Press, 2016.
12 Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God (Srimad Bhagavata Purana Book X), Edwin Bryant, Penguin Classics, 2004.
13 A Prose English Translation of Srimad Bhagavatam, Manmatha Nath Dutt, H.C. Dass, Calcutta, 1896.
14 Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1970 to 1977.
15 The Bhagavata Purana, translated and annotated by Ganesh Vasudeo Tagare, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, 1976.
16 Srimad Bhagavada, Swami Tapasyananda, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, 1980.
17 Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana with Sanskrit Text and English Translation, C.L. Goswami and M.A. Shastri, Gita Press, 2006.
18 A Study of the Bhagavata Purana or Esoteric Hinduism, Purnendu Narayana Sinha, Freeman and Company, Benares, 1901.
19 Two of the six Indian schools of darshana (philosophy).
1 The one who is spoken about in excellent shlokas, Vishnu.
2 The highest state of asceticism and meditation.
3 The supreme soul.
4 Svayambhuva Manu.
5 Brahma.
6 The three qualities (guna) of sattva, rajas and tamas.
7 Celestial vehicles.
8 Siddhas are sages who have been successful in attaining their objectives.
9 Gandharvas are celestial musicians and are semi-divine.
10 Relatively minor gods.
11 Celestial singers.
12 Brahma arrived while Narada was instructing Priyavrata.
13 Manu and Priyavrata. At that time, Manu had also arrived.
14 Vishnu.
15 The five senses and the mind.
16 To the subsequent ashramas.
17 Brahma.
18 The path of devotion.
19 The supreme soul.
20 The individual soul.
21 Priyavrata.
22 A period during which a Manu presides and rules over creation.
23 The three sons mentioned earlier, Kavi, Mahavira and Savana.
24 One arbuda is ten million.
25 Mount Meru.
26 Priyavrata.
27 Across Puranas, the names and the order of the islands (dvipas) marginally varies.
28 The seven oceans are Lavana, Kshira, Sura, Ghrita, Ikshu, Dadhi and Svadu. These have been speculatively identified as Lavana (Indian Ocean), Kshira (Shirwan, part of the Caspian Sea), Sura (Sarain, the remaining part of the Caspian Sea), Ghrita (Erythraean Sea), Ikshu (the river Oxus), Dadhi (Dahae, the Aral Sea) and Svadu (Tchadun, the river in Mongolia). The terms used here for the composition are kshara (salt water), ikshu-rasa (sugar cane juice), sura (liquor), ghrita (clarified butter), kshira (milk), dadhi-manda (curds) and suddhoda (fresh water).
29 Kavi, Mahavira and Savana were not interested.
30 Shukracharya, also known as Kavya.
31 One with long strides, Vishnu’s name.
32 The five senses and the mind.
33 Obtained by getting a son.
34 Mount Mandara.
35 Brahma.
36 Kama, the god of love. Makaradhvaja (the one with a makara on his standard) is one of Kama’s names.
37 Who could not distinguish between man and woman.
38 The eyebrows.
39 Meaning the glances.
40 Because of the fragrance in Purvachitti’s body, bees were circling her. These are the disciples.
41 Partridge.
42 Meaning the breasts. Instead of mounds, one can also translate them as horns.
43 Purvachitti was chewing betel leaf.
44 A makara is a mythical aquatic creature, but can loosely be translated as shark or crocodile. Earrings like makaras.
45 Meaning swans.
46 And has therefore sent you here.
47 Varsha; varsha is a subdivision of dvipa.
48 Gifts given to brahmanas after the sacrifice.
49 Koustubha.
50 Nabhi.
51 The objectives of human existence—dharma, artha, kama and moksha.
52 We are worshipping you for the purusharthas.
53 Hence, Nabhi is not asking for anything more.
54 The hymn should have been in poetry. Nabhi bows down before the priests, who praised the illustrious one.
55 As in Bharatavarsha.
56 Vishnudatta is one of Parikshit’s names.
57 The word used is shramana. Literally, the text states that the mendicants are clad in air.
58 Meaning best or excellent.
59 After Nabhi, this varsha was initially known as Ajanabha. It came to be known as Bharatavarsha later.
60 Vasudeva’s.
61 Dakshina.
62 Jayanti was Indra’s daughter.
63 ‘Both’ is interpreted as the shruti and smriti texts.
64 This occurs later, in the Ninth Skandha.
65 That is, he behaved like an ordinary human being.
66 This is reminiscent of 3.21 of the Bhagavad Gita.
67 The supreme soul.
68 The traditional four means are sama (conciliation or negotiation), dana (bribery), danda (punishment) and bheda (dissension).
69 Interpreted as something that belonged to someone else and was therefore non-existent.
70 Such as pigs and dogs.
71 In an earlier life.
72 Past deeds.
73 Gratification of the senses.
74 Ahamkara.
75 Brahma.
76 Spiritual truth.
77 Celibacy.
78 Restraint.
79 We have translated vijnana as self-knowledge, the transcendental consciousness. We will use jnana for knowledge.
80 The subtle body.
81 Ego.
82 The yoga should not become an end in itself.
83 He should not get angry if they do not listen.
84 The cycle of life.
85 Pramatha is a tormentor and is used for a ghost or goblin.
86 Virinchi or Brahma.
87 The body is interpreted as the Vedas.
88 A householder has to maintain three fires, ahavaniya, garhapatya and dakshinatya.
89 An avadhuta is an ascetic who has renounced all worldly attachments. However, it also has the nuance of someone who has been cast off from society and has been excluded by it.
90 A malevolent being that survives on human flesh.
91 The body and the atman.
92 A yojana is a measure of distance, between 8 and 9 miles.
93 Emancipation.
94 Yoga leads to eight major siddhis
or powers. These are anima (becoming as small as one desires), mahima (as large as one desires), laghima (as light as one wants), garima (as heavy as one wants), prapti (obtaining what one wants), prakamya (travelling where one wants), vashitvam (powers to control creatures) and ishitvam (obtaining divine powers).
95 Therefore, he didn’t use them.
96 Why did Rishabha dislike them?
97 Shri-Shuka.
98 A cunning hunter does not trust an animal that has been captured.
99 Because of distractions.
100 With the mind.
101 Konka has speculatively been identified with Konkana, Venka with the Venkatadri hill and Kutaka with the Kutaka hill near Nagpur.
102 Rishabha.
103 Bharatavarsha.
104 The speaker and the listener.
105 The wheel of life, the circle of birth and death.
106 Detachment from fruits and renunciation of action.
107 The Pandavas.
108 Rishabha.
109 Five tanmatras or subtle elements and five mahabhutas or gross elements,
110 A yajna and a kratu are both sacrifices. However, the former is performed with a sacrificial post and the latter without one. More specifically, the former is performed with sacrificial animals and the latter without sacrificing animals.
111 Apurva means the forces and powers harnessed through a sacrifice.
112 Bharata.
113 The adhvaryu is the assistant priest and is accomplished in the Yajur Veda.
114 River Gandaki.
115 This is reminiscent of the gayatri mantra.
116 A muhurta is a measure of time equal to forty-eight minutes.
117 A lion.
118 As a metaphor for time and destiny.
119 The fawn got tired from running around.
120 Were the fawn ever to go away.
121 The sun.
122 The footprints of a black antelope mark an auspicious spot for a sacrifice.
123 Pulastya and Pulaha’s hermitage was in Shalagrama. Kalanjara is the name of a famous mountain. As a deer, Bharata had been born in Kalanjara.
124 Place of pilgrimage.
125 These nine sons were born through the elder wife.
126 After this, he would be liberated and would not be born again.
127 There are thirteen samskaras or sacraments. The list varies a bit. But one list is vivaha (marriage), garbhalambhana (conception), pumshavana (engendering a male child), simantonnayana (parting the hair, performed in the fourth month of pregnancy), jatakarma (birth rites), namakarana (naming), chudakarma (tonsure), annaprashana (first solid food), keshanta (first shaving of the head), upanayana (sacred thread), vidyarambha (commencement of studies), samavartana (graduation) and antyeshti (funeral rites). After samavartana, one ceases to be a student and becomes (usually) a householder.
128 Bharata.
129 The savitri (gayatri) mantra has three padas. Vyahriti means the words bhuh, bhuvah and svah, uttered after Oum.
130 The father’s.
131 Without wages.
132 One who is a brahmana only in name.
133 While this means shudra, it also means outcast.
134 A form of the goddess Kali. The text does not clearly indicate whether the sacrificial animal had escaped, or whether another man, who was no more than an animal, had escaped. Either interpretation is possible. The sacrifice is offered at night.
135 The left one of his lotus feet was placed on his right thigh and his left hand was on his left knee.
136 The word used is panis.
137 Several layers of interpretation are possible. Violence is sanctioned when there is danger and there was no danger now. Human sacrifices are meant to be token and notional, not actual. Even if there is a human sacrifice, it should not be that of a brahmana. Even if a brahmana is sacrificed, it should not be such an excellent brahmana.
138 These two kingdoms are often mentioned in conjunction, as one kingdom. Sindhu was probably to the west of the River Sindhu and Souvira to the east.
139 So that he did not step on a living creature by mistake.
140 Danda or punishment as the fourth mode.
141 That of a kshatriya.
142 Bharata’s.
143 Rahugana’s.
144 Yama.
145 The essence is that ‘I’ am not my body.
146 Of you as the master and I as the servant.
147 If I have realized my atman, I no longer identify myself with my body, which will be punished. And if I am mad, I will not comprehend the punishment.
148 Whose son or disciple are you?
149 Interpreted as—are you the sage Kapila?
150 Rahugana was going to meet Kapila.
151 If a king punishes subjects to make them follow their own dharma, that is Achyuta’s service, it must be beneficial.
152 Such as between the master and the servant.
153 Of the Vedas.
154 The sixteen are the five gross elements, the ten organs of perception and action and the mind, the mind being the chief.
155 From one life to another.
156 Kshetra is the field, that is, the body. Kshetrajna is one who knows the body, that is, the soul, both human and universal.
157 The body.
158 Mind as the eleventh and ahamkara as the twelfth.
159 By those who are deluded.
160 The six enemies or vices are kama (desire), krodha (anger), lobha (avarice), moha (delusion), mada (pride) and matsarya (jealousy).
161 The mind.
162 Carrying the load and fatigue, the master and the servant.
163 The palanquin bearers.
164 A paramanu is an ultimate particle characterized by the trait that it cannot be divided further. It alone is combined with others.
165 Worshipping water, fire or the sun. Performing austerities in water, before a fire or exposed to the sun is a better interpretation.
166 Artha means dharma, artha and kama.
167 The six senses and the mind, the mind being the leader.
168 The image of the forest.
169 As a metaphor for something that is unreal.
170 The image is of a caravan lost in the forest.
171 There is a double meaning, with the menstrual cycle of a woman indicated. Thus, the whirlwind is a metaphor for attraction towards women. All the other metaphors are subject to detailed interpretations.
172 Minor gods.
173 Honey.
174 There are four elephants that dwell in the four directions. These are known as diggaja, the elephant (gaja) for a direction (dik).
175 The arms of women.
176 A metaphor for death or past deeds.
177 That is, Bharata.
178 Rahugana.
179 Parikshit.
180 The five senses and the mind.
181 The five senses.
182 Of weeds and grass.
183 Literally, a pishacha who carries fire in the night. The phosphorent glow known as will-of-the-wisp.
184 Karaskara is a poisonous medicinal plant and karatunda is the dark Agallochum.
185 They are dead.
186 The fire of hunger.
187 ‘Both’ is subject to different kinds of interpretation, such as in this life or the next, or pravritti and nivritti.
188 Of the king or the husband. Devadatta and Vishnumitra are names for any individuals, like ‘X’ and ‘Y’.
189 Destiny, nature and one’s own nature, respectively.
190 Kakinika, a very small amount, twenty cowries or less.
191 Of a woman.
192 One parardha is fifty years of Brahma’s life.
193 In this life, or in a past life.
194 One of the schools of darshana (philosophy).
195 Devatajit’s son.
196 Pratiha’s mother and wife had the same name.
197 These daughters are Shraddha, Maitri and Daya, the personified forms of faith, frien
dship and compassion.
198 Viraja.
199 We have deliberately used the word ‘ultimate’. The word used is charama. Therefore, one can take this either as the last son, or the greatest son.
200 Jambudvipa.
201 A great mountain.
202 Jambudvipa.
203 Meru’s root extends inside the earth for sixteen thousand yojanas. Therefore, it rises eighty-four thousand yojanas from the surface of the earth.
204 Kshara.
205 The wording is such that this can be interpreted in different ways. The same length and breadth, but one-tenth the height, or the same height and breadth, but one-tenth the length.
206 Charanas, gandharvas, apsaras, vidyadharas, kinnaras.
207 Yakshas.
208 A vyama is a measure of length. It is the distance between the tips of the fingers of the two hands, when the arms are extended out.