Harivamsha
Page 51
1043 Meaning Kubera. According to some accounts, Vishrava was the son of Pulastya and Vishrava’s wife was Ilavida or Ilavila. The son of this union was Ailavila or Ailabila. Ailavila performed austerities and became Kubera, the lord of riches.
1044 Tamasa, alternatively, illusion (maya) known to the demons.
1045 Because he was part of Vishnu.
1046 Aniruddha.
1047 Dhanurveda texts mention thirty-two techniques of fighting with a sword and a shield. Their names aren’t always listed.
1048 Bana’s.
1049 A nalva is a measure of distance, equal to 400 hastas or cubits.
1050 Aniruddha.
1051 This must have been a new chariot and horses.
1052 This should probably read shastra (weapon) and not shaastra (sacred text).
1053 As will become clear later, Aniruddha was still bound.
1054 Parshni has different meanings. When four horses are attached to a chariot, it means one of the outside horses. It can also mean one of the two charioteers who drive the outside horses, as opposed to the main charioteer (sarathi), or someone who guards the axles. In this context, it simply means that Krishna has no aide.
1055 The word used is tata.
1056 A mixture of honey offered to a guest.
1057 Narada.
1058 The word used is tata.
1059 Garuda.
1060 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). These are the eight qualities mentioned.
1061 Balarama.
1062 The text says Shakra, which is almost certainly a typo, though it does make sense. Non-Critical versions say Shukra (Venus) and we have changed Shakra to Shukra.
1063 Garuda.
1064 Which emerged to protect Bana’s city.
1065 These are words spoken by Garuda.
1066 There was a class of soma sacrifices known as jyotishtoma.
1067 Angiras is often portrayed as a personification of Agni and as Vishnu’s enemy.
1068 Krishna.
1069 Angiras.
1070 It isn’t possible to deduce which four are being singled out.
1071 Krishna, Balarama, Pradyumna and Garuda.
1072 Balarama.
1073 Garuda.
1074 The personified form of fever.
1075 Balarama’s body.
1076 The word used is tata.
1077 The strength of Krishna’s arms.
1078 Krishna, Balarama and Pradyumna.
1079 The anger of the demons enchanced the power of Krishna’s arrows.
1080 Two different words are used for swords, asi and khadga.
1081 Kartikeya.
1082 Lord of Nandi, Shiva’s name.
1083 Shiva.
1084 Krishna, Balarama, Pradyumna and Garuda.
1085 Shiva.
1086 Jrimbhana means yawning.
1087 Shiva.
1088 There is abruptness because the Critical Edition excises shlokas. Shiva withdrew from the battle.
1089 Guha.
1090 The sun.
1091 Humkara means to utter the sound hum, a sound believed to possess special powers.
1092 Koutavi is an eighth part of the goddess Parvati. She interceded, to prevent Krishna and Kumara from fighting against each other. Accordingly, Kumara retreated.
1093 The peacock is actually Kumara’s mount. So this probably belongs in an earlier section.
1094 The word used is tata.
1095 Brahma.
1096 Parashurama.
1097 Parvati’s form, being equated with Koutavi.
1098 Bana was thus left with only two arms.
1099 Killing Bana.
1100 The word used is tata.
1101 Attendants of Shiva and Kumara.
1102 Varuna’s direction is the west.
1103 Inexplicably, the Critical Edition excises a shloka, so that we do not know what these things were. They were Varuna’s cows. Non-Critical editions explain this and also say that these were actually Bana’s cows, seized by Varuna.
1104 That is, human.
1105 Ignorance, ego, passion, hatred and addiction.
1106 This is a reference to Vishnu’s ten incarnations. The matsya (fish) incarnation was in the ocean and came before the Krishna incarnation.
1107 He left without the cows.
1108 Krishna said this.
1109 Krishna’s father.
1110 Krishna.
1111 Krishna.
1112 Different types of liquor.
1113 Krishna’s father.
1114 Meaning Krishna.
1115 The word used is tata.
1116 Lomaharshana.
1117 Hastinapura.
1118 A reference to the Pandavas leaving on their final and great journey.
1119 Literally, the flank of a goat.
1120 The two brahmanas.
1121 Vemaki was Vemaka’s wife.
1122 As one moves from satya yuga to kali yuga, the lifespan progressively declines.
1123 To enjoy the pleasures of life, Yayati had wanted to temporarily transfer his old age to one of his sons. The only son who agreed to accept the old age was Puru. The other sons refused and were disinherited.
1124 Vaishampayana.
1125 Literally, itihasa means, this is indeed what happened. It is thus history.
1126 The same as Souti.
1127 Yudhishthira.
1128 The sense is that though brahmanas and kings have a vested interest in performing sacrifices, these are futile.
1129 Shvetagraha, probably signifying a comet.
1130 This is unclear, presumably to bar entry. This is generally a description of kali yuga.
1131 This is interpreted as Janamejaya not knowing whether he will die soon, or will live for a long time.
1132 Of dvapara yuga.
1133 Vyasa. Janamejaya had asked Vyasa and Lomaharshana is repeating this to Shounaka.
1134 Literally, kandaprishtha means the back of an arrow. These are brahmanas who earn a living by selling arrows and other weapons and are brahmanas who have deviated. They should not be seated in the same rank as learned, shrotriya brahmanas.
1135 Even those who are not entitled to.
1136 The text uses the word vajasaneya to signify this. Everyone will project themselves as an expert on the Vedas, whether they are accomplished or not.
1137 It is impossible to translate ‘bho’. A loose translation would be ‘Hello’. Shudras should display respect towards others. Instead of this, they will use such familiar terms of address.
1138 Without judging the merits of the recipient.
1139 Meaning fruits in the next world.
1140 Sons born to a married woman through adultery, while the husband is still alive.
1141 The text uses the word vrishas, which is synonymous.
1142 It is not clear what this is, probably some kind of grass.
1143 Kali yuga.
1144 This is still in the state of kali yuga.
1145 Dharma mixed with adharma.
1146 Probably a reference to the atman.
1147 Of dharma.
1148 According to the injunctions, cooked food should not be bought and sold.
1149 That is, regarded as valueless. Unless comprehended, the true value of dharma is also not realized.
1150 This is a reference not only to Harivamsha, but also to the Mahabharata.
1151 Janamejaya.
1152 Vapushtama, the princess of Kashi, was Janamejaya’s queen. In a horse sacrifice, a horse was left free to wander around in different kingdoms. If other kings did not seize it, they accepted the sovereignty of the one conducting the sacrifice. If they seized it, there would be a battle. A horse sacr
ifice established a king as an emperor. Once the horse returned after its travels, it was killed, often by the queen. In ritual, the queen would sleep with the dead horse. The horse’s entrails would also be burnt.
1153 Since Janamejaya is speaking, this is a typo and does not belong.
1154 Figuratively speaking.
1155 Of Janamejaya and of the brahmanas.
1156 Grandson in an extended sense, Indra’s son was Arjuna, Arjuna’s son was Abhimanyu, Abhimanyu’s son was Parikshit and Parikshit’s son was Janamejaya. Indra did this because the queen was actually Rambha.
1157 Indra.
1158 Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity.
1159 Vyasa.
1160 Mahakavya.
Acknowledgements
The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) in Pune was formally established in July 1917. But that’s the formal establishment. I think of it as 1916, because that’s when the Mahabharata Project, identified with BORI, was conceived. After consulting 1,259 manuscripts, a Critical Edition was published, the work lasting from 1919 to 1966. The Harivamsha followed, between 1966 and 1969. The Mahabharata Project work continues, with a cultural index and a bibliography.
For me, the time spent in Pune at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics was also an opportunity to familiarize myself with BORI and the Critical Edition. I treasure the time spent in the BORI Library. My personal Mahabharata Project took off much later. An unabridged translation in English, based on BORI’s Critical Edition, was published by Penguin (India) between 2010 and 2014 in ten volumes, later brought out in a boxed set in 2015. The Harivamsha is a supplement/appendix to the Mahabharata and the Harivamsha translation was also planned as part of my Mahabharata Project. As mentioned, BORI’s Critical Edition had incorporated the Harivamsha. But though a supplement/appendix, the Harivamsha is also somewhat different from the Mahabharata. Therefore, it was decided not to bring it out as part of the Mahabharata translation, but as an independent volume. This is the result.
That result was driven by Meru Gokhale and Ambar Sahil Chatterjee at Penguin. Paloma Dutta was the able editor for the Mahabharata translation. Therefore, she continued as the editor for the Harivamsha and that made life a whole lot easier. My wife, Suparna Banerjee (Debroy) was a constant source of support, as she was for the Mahabharata. Those who wrote kind reviews of the Mahabharata volumes were a source of encouragement too.
I have known Prakash Javadekar for many years. If I remember right, I first got to know him in connection with my work on the States. He is from Pune and I owe a lot to that city for kindling my interest in this kind of work. Earlier this year, the ministry of human resource development, Government of India, presented sets of the ten-volume Mahabharata translation to UNESCO. Prakash Javadekar is now the minister for human resource development. This gives me an opportunity to embarrass a friend from Pune by dedicating this volume to him. He has written on loans (IMF, farmers), unemployment and inflation, in Marathi. Perhaps he will now write on other things, including those that Pune is famous for, in Marathi and in English.
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This collection published 2016
Copyright © Bibek Debroy 2016
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