by Bibek Debroy
731 Pradyumna.
732 Soubha.
733 This world in the case of victory and the next world in the case of death.
734 Daruka was Krishna’s charioteer and Daruka’s son was Pradyumna’s charioteer.
735 Pradyumna.
736 Meaning, it continued for twenty-seven days and nights continuously, without stopping during the night.
737 Garuda. Aruna is Garuda’s older brother.
738 That is, Shishupala.
739 Krishna.
740 With the body.
741 There is no such contradiction, because Krishna was behaving like an ordinary human being.
742 Krishna.
743 The sun rises from behind Mount Udaya.
744 Shalva’s followers.
745 Dantavakra.
746 The king of Karusha, Dantavakra.
747 Dantavakra was the son of Shrutadevi, Vasudeva’s sister.
748 Also spelt Koumadoki. The name of Krishna’s club.
749 Somanath.
750 Prithudaka is named after King Prithu. It is believed that Vishvamitra became a brahmarshi in the Sarasvati temple there. This is identified as Pehowa in Karnal district.
751 Siddhapura (Sitpur) in Gujarat.
752 The sage Trita fell into a kupa (well) here, somewhere along the banks of the Sarasvati.
753 Identified with Ramahrada, somewhere near Kurukshetra.
754 Probably Vaishali. But there were seven (sapta) tributaries or different names for the Sarasvati in different places—Suprabha in Pushkara, Kanchanakshi in Naimisha, Vishala in Gaya, Manasahrada in Uttara Kosala, Suvenu in Kedara, Vimaloda in Gangadvara and Sarasvati in Kurukshetra.
755 On the banks of the Sarasvati. It is impossible to be more specific than that.
756 On the banks of the Sarasvati. It is impossible to be more specific than that.
757 Vedavyasa’s.
758 Pratiloma means against the natural order and applies to progeny where the mother is superior in varna to the father. A suta has a kshatriya father and a brahmana mother.
759 Vedavyasa.
760 Those who pretend to follow dharma are greater sinners than those who follow adharma.
761 Since he was visiting the tirthas. He only struck Romaharshana with the blade of grass, not intending to kill him. But destiny took over.
762 The Puranas. Romaharshana’s son was Ugrashrava.
763 The blood made him resemble a mountain with red minerals and ores flowing out.
764 The name of a river, Koshi in Bihar.
765 This is believed to be Lake Manasa.
766 Shalagrama is a sacred stone that is Vishnu’s personification. According to legend, Vishnu promised that he would be present as this stone in the River Gandaki. River Gandaki is therefore famous for its shalagrama stones. Specifically, Pulaha’s hermitage is believed to be a place known as Shalagrama, near the source of the Gandaki.
767 Parashurama.
768 Constructed by Rama.
769 A kulachala is a great mountain.
770 In Kanyakumari.
771 The tirtha known as Phalguna is identified with Anantapur, near Bellary. Panchapsara means five (pancha) apsaras.
772 Trigarta is identified as North Canara.
773 Shiva.
774 Arya means Parvati. Shurparaka is Sopara in Maharashtra. Shurparaka is also identified as the region near the origins of the Narmada, that is, what is the southern part of Gujarat now.
775 Payoshni is the river Purna, while Nirvindhya is the Newaz/Newaj, in Madhya Pradesh.
776 Reva is Narmada and Mahishmati is Maheshwar.
777 Bhima in strength and Duryodhana in learning.
778 Revati.
779 Mobile and immobile.
780 Parikshit.
781 Interpreted as Rukmini because of the reference to Shri later.
782 An avadhuta is an ascetic who has renounced all worldly attachments. Here, it has the sense of someone who is poor and has no worldly possessions.
783 So far, we have not been told the brahmana’s name. From Chapter 10(41), we can deduce this was Sudamna/Sudama. Krishna and Sudama studied together, in Sandipani’s hermitage.
784 We have deliberately left this as dvija, since it doesn’t necessarily mean a brahmana.
785 The father. Generally, the parents.
786 The one through whom the investiture of the sacred thread ceremony occurs.
787 That is, may you never forget them.
788 This shloka is identical with 9.26 in the Bhagavad Gita.
789 As has been mentioned earlier, Shri is Rukmini. There are interpretations about why Rukmini prevented Krishna from eating a second handful. Since they differ quite a bit, we will not get into that.
790 One who is a brahmana only in name, worst among brahmanas.
791 Yoga leads to eight major siddhis or powers.
792 Literally, necklaces made out of gold coins.
793 They got to know about it astronomically. Samantapanchaka is the area around Kurukshetra. At the time of an eclipse, it is auspicious to bathe in such a sacred place.
794 Parashurama.
795 Krishna’s father.
796 For protecting Dvaraka.
797 After the eclipse was over.
798 The brahmanas.
799 They broke their fast.
800 She is addressing Vasudeva, Krishna’s father.
801 Kunti is being addressed as a mother, not as Vasudeva’s mother. The word used is amba.
802 Dhritarashtra. Clearly, this incident occurred before the war in Kurukshetra and many other events that have been mentioned earlier.
803 This is addressed to Ugrasena.
804 The cessation of samsara.
805 The word used is sapinda, connoting the same lineage as one’s mother.
806 Krishna’s father.
807 The foster parents.
808 That is, Yashoda.
809 Since these led to blinking and a pause in the vision.
810 Such as in meditation and yoga.
811 The elements constitute and exist in physical beings, but the elements neither constitute, nor exist, in the atman.
812 Spiritual truth.
813 We have kept it simple, but there are complicated interpretations. The contact with material objects creates the three states. The contact with the mind creates the three states. The three states result from sattva, rajas and tamas. Alternatively, the three states are wakefulness, dreaming and dreamless sleep.
814 A paramahamsa is a person who has reached the supreme state.
815 Rukmini.
816 Satyabhama.
817 Not to be confused with Balarama’s mother.
818 Prasena’s.
819 Syamantaka.
820 Akrura. Satyabhama’s father was Satrajit.
821 Jambavat.
822 Arjuna.
823 Chariots, elephants, horses and infantry.
824 Krishnaa, Droupadi.
825 Lakshmi.
826 Arjuna’s. In Droupadi’s svayamvara, the artificial fish had not been completely covered.
827 They could string the bow on one side, but not on the other.
828 Jarasandha.
829 Of the fish.
830 An auspicious moment.
831 Droupadi.
832 Krishna.
833 Earlier, that is the reason we are fortunate now.
834 The other queens. This is interpreted as Rohini speaking on behalf of the other queens.
835 Narakasura.
836 Brahma.
837 Gandhari.
838 Subhadra.
839 Parashurama.
840 Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanatkumara.
841 Such as images of gods worshipped in temples.
842 Bile, phlegm and air.
843 Imitating human behaviour.
844 Though you are nirguna.
845 This is a difficult shloka to translate. A sleeping person sees various things in a dr
eam. They seem to be real, but aren’t. Reality is different.
846 The Ganga originates there.
847 Krishna’s father.
848 The sense is, why does he need to ask us?
849 Krishna’s.
850 Sacrifices repay the debt to gods, studying to rishis and sons to ancestors.
851 That is, you can cease to be a householder.
852 Kurukshetra.
853 Made out of golden coins.
854 Indra.
855 Prakrita is the primary sacrifice, vaikrita means secondary sacrifices, dravya stands for objects used/offered and jnana stands for mantras.
856 Vasudeva.
857 Parashurama’s.
858 Vidura.
859 Some Yadus accompanied Nanda and his people on their return journey, perhaps to protect them.
860 Vasudeva.
861 This chapter is known as Shruti-Gita. The shlokas are subject to numerous and complicated interpretations and we have chosen the simplest interpretation possible. Essentially, Parikshit’s question is a simple one. How can shruti texts (the Vedas and the Upanishads), which use words, be used to describe the brahman?
862 Narayana.
863 Rishi Narayana.
864 This is Vishnu in his form of Aniruddha, lying down after the universal destruction.
865 At the time of universal destruction.
866 At the time of the next creation.
867 Just as pots are made out of clay, but when they are destroyed, become clay again.
868 And not on the transformations.
869 Like the earth, you are the foundation. If the shrutis describe your transformations, they describe part of you, though not the whole.
870 This probably means sattva, rajas and tamas, not the three worlds.
871 Five sheaths cover the atman and are annamaya (related to food), pranamaya (related to energy), manomaya (related to the mind), vijnanamaya (related to knowledge) and anandamaya (related to bliss).
872 A reference to the manipura chakra, located above the navel and below the solar plexus. In ascending order along the spinal column, the seven chakras are muladhara, svadhishthana, manipura, anahata, vishuddhi, ajna and sahasrara.
873 The cavity of the heart is anahata chakra. Aruni must mean Uddalaka Aruni, referred to in the Upanishads.
874 The kundalini rises up the sushumna nadi and reaches the crown of the head (sahasrara chakra).
875 Fire is latent in kindling. Fire has no form, but assumes the form of whatever it is burning.
876 In the sacred texts.
877 Through the rites of the sacred texts.
878 The physical body.
879 Brahma.
880 Those in heaven and those who preside over the senses.
881 Physical bodies resulting from composition of gross and subtle matter.
882 That is, from Prakriti.
883 The three gunas.
884 Through the injunctions of the sacred texts.
885 Literally, the ones who do not blink.
886 The individual jivatmans must have an entity that is superior.
887 The paramatman is the controller and creator of the individual jivatman.
888 Parkriti is inert and cannot create an animate jivatman. Purusha, or its combination with Prakriti, makes Purusha subject to transformations.
889 From different flowers.
890 Of time, as in the past, the present and the future.
891 The effect is not similar to the cause. For example, a son may be distinct from the father.
892 Both means the real and the unreal. Perceptions about the real can be illusory, just as a rope can be taken to be a snake. Therefore, perceptions about the world are clouded by the illusion that shrouds that perception.
893 Compassion, forgiveness, cleanliness, lack of jealousy, altruism, lack of greed, purity and self-control.
894 The injunctions. These don’t matter to him.
895 Narayana.
896 Sanandana and the others.
897 Narada.
898 Through the sacred texts.
899 The mind from vaikarika ahamkara, the five senses of perception and the five senses of action from taijasa ahamkara and the five elements from tamasa ahamkara.
900 Quickly (ashu) satisfied (tosha), or Ashutosha, is also one of Shiva’s names.
901 Ravana.
902 Kedaranatha.
903 Shiva.
904 As a sign of assent.
905 They have renounced violence.
906 To samsara.
907 A boy who is observing brahmacharya as a student, batuka.
908 Made out of grass.
909 Vrika.
910 Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
911 In the original creation, water was created from fire.
912 Both were born from Brahma.
913 That is, Shiva does not follow the sanctioned path.
914 Parvati.
915 Bhrigu.
916 This is the spot known as shrivatsa, where Shri resides.
917 Bhrigu.
918 That is, those who have abjured violence.
919 The rakshasa form is based on tamas, the asura form on rajas and the sura form on sattva.
920 Meaning Shuka.
921 Travelling along the road of samsara.
922 Ugrasena’s.
923 Ugrasena.
924 They are as powerless. Arjuna is referring to the Yadavas.
925 Shiva.
926 Arjuna.
927 Yama’s capital.
928 The mountain that separates the region illuminated by the sun from the region not illuminated by the sun.
929 Himalayas.
930 Pushti, shri and kirti respectively stand for grace, splendour and fame. Ajaya means unvanquished and stands for the powers of maya.
931 Arjuna.
932 Krishna and Arjuna.
933 The various other lords, Brahma and the others.
934 Krishna and Arjuna, one of Arjuna’s names is Krishna.
935 Signifying assent.
936 Krishna.
937 Yudhishthira. The ‘others’ means other kings.
938 After the sporting was over.
939 Such as the Koustubha jewel.
940 The cuckoo is imitating those sounds.
941 The breasts are the mountain’s peaks.
942 The rivers.
943 Rukmavati.
944 Aniruddha.
945 That is, Rochana.
946 When the Yadavas fought against each other and destroyed themselves.
947 Ahuka is Ugrasena. It is not clear whether this means sons or attendants, probably the latter.
948 Ganga.
949 Of dharma.
950 Droupadi was dragged by the hair into the assembly hall.
951 Meaning Dvaravati.
952 Vasudeva, Krishna’s father.
953 A tirtha near Dvaravati.
954 Whether the child will be male or female.
955 However, Krishna was not present.
956 Ugrasena.
957 The hunter’s name was Jara. The word also means old age.
958 Krishna’s father.
959 Vasudeva.
960 There is a proportionate quid pro quo.
961 The dharma of devotion to the illustrious one.
962 Out of Rishabha’s one hundred sons.
963 That is, they were naked.
964 The king of Videha.
965 Named after Nabhi, this varsha was initially known as Ajanabha. It came to be known as Bharatavarsha later.
966 Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanatkumara.
967 A kshana is a small measure of time.
968 There is the symbolism of the shrutis and smritis constituting the eyes of knowledge and of falling down into samsara.
969 As a consequence of past karma.
970 This echoes Bhagavad Gita 9.27.
971 The notion of ‘I’, which is second, Narayana being primary.
97
2 Nimi.
973 Those who ignore Krishna.
974 Those who hate Krishna.
975 His interpretation of devotion is limited to worshipping the image.
976 A very small measure of time.
977 Nimi.
978 Depending on their inclinations.
979 The five senses of perception and the five senses of action add up to ten.
980 In the form of Shesha.
981 That is, Brahma.
982 When the kindling has been consumed, fire enters into the principle of the fire.
983 There is a bit of interpretation in these shlokas. A straight translation wouldn’t have been clear.
984 Tamasika ahamkara, rajasika ahamkara and sattvika ahamkara.
985 It is left implicit that Mahat merges into Prakriti.
986 Sattva, rajas and tamas.
987 Nimi.
988 Those who are attached to material objects.
989 That is, couples who live together in the householder stage.
990 Joy and misery, heat and cold and so on.
991 Or bark.
992 Mobile and immobile objects as representing Krishna.
993 Nimi.
994 This is a reference to the four states of consciousness—wakefulness (jagrata), dreaming (svapna), deep sleep (sushupti) and pure consciousness (turiya).
995 This is a difficult shloka, with alternative interpretations. The description is as ‘neti’, not this.
996 This is more than a word for word translation, since the text is cryptic. Rajas brought about the power of creation and Sutratma is the same as Hiranyagarbha. Tamas is the ignorance that envelops the jivatman.
997 Interpreted as gods who embody knowledge, or the divinities who preside over the senses.
998 Such as birth, youth, old age and death.
999 Cessation of karma.
1000 Ikshvaku’s.
1001 Karma stands for acts sanctioned by the Vedas, akarma for failure to perform those acts. Vikarma stands for the commission of prohibited acts.
1002 The answer to the question is left implicit. The sages did not tell you, because you were not ready for the knowledge.
1003 For instance, a child may have an illness that needs to be cured through ingesting a bitter medicine. The objective is the curing of the illness, not the medicine. Since the medicine is bitter, it is hidden inside something sweet, or the child is tempted with the offer of something sweet after the bitter medicine has been taken.
1004 Mentioned in the Vedas.
1005 Agamas are texts other than the Vedas, such as the tantra texts. Having obtained the preceptor’s favours means having been initiated by the guru. The devotee chooses a personal form of the lord that appeals to himself.