by Visnu Sarma
21. Ćarurdanta.
22. Nine divinities are said to watch over all actions, good and bad: the sun and moon, death and time, and the five elements.
23. The three regal powers, of majesty or the personal power of a ruler; of diplomacy or the power of the counsellors; and the power of action, or military power.
24. In Indian mythology the disfigurations on the moon’s surface are perceived as forming the shape of a hare; the ‘hare-in-the-moon’ is similar to the English phrase ‘man-in-the-moon’.
25. Ursa Major; constellation of the Great Bear.
26. Ślghraka.
27. Dadhikarṇa.
28. Dharma—the Law; here it refers to law in the narrow sense which is based on moral law or ethics, as well as to righteousness, virtue and so forth.
29. Yajamāna, the man who arranged for a sacrifice to be performed and paid all the expenses.
30. Āhitāgni—literally, one who tends the sacred fire on the altar.
31. Milk, butter, curds, urine, dung.
32. Regulation of the diet according to the waxing and waning of the moon: one mouthful increased daily to fifteen mouthfuls at full moon and decreased to one mouthful at new moon.
33. Raktāksa, Krūrāksa, Dīptāksa, Vakranāsa, Prākārakarṇa.
34. Ćtraratha, i.e., one who had bright chariots.
35. The second of the four stages or ashramas of life and considered the most meritorious.
36. Svarga, Paradise.
37. Kāmātura.
38. Brahmarāksas.
39. Satyavaćna.
40. That is, once every three days.
41. Bali.
42. The moon.
43. Durgā.
44. A species of aquatic plant, probably duckweed.
45. Born of the sage Jahnu; another name for Gangā.
46. A small amount of water is held in the hollow of the right palm and sipped after certain prayers are uttered to sanctify it.
47. Gandharva; the Gandharva is a spirit whose dwelling is in the air or in the space-ocean, the Waters of Life; he also guards Soma, the sap of life.
48. Putrikā, is the term used for a daughter chosen to raise male issue to parents without a son.
49. One of the many hells in which sinners are baked like clay pots in a furnace.
50. Arjuna, the third Pāijdava brother. During their last year of exile, the five brothers and Draupadī lived incognito in the kingdom of the Matsyas (also known as Virāta), disguised and performing menial tasks at the court. Arjuna, disguised as a eunuch, was teacher of dance and music to the princess. Bhīma, the second Pāṇḍava, was the cook.
51. Gāṇḍïva, Arjuna’s bow, a gift from Agni (Fire) for helping in the burning of the Khandava forest.
52. King of the Matsyas.
53. Arjuna, who could shoot with both hands.
54. Arjuna.
55. Dharma, the Law personified. Yudhisthira, the eldest of the Pāçdavas was the son of Kuntī and Dharma.
56. Indra, Kubera, Yama, respectively.
57. A slave or maid doing menial tasks in the apartments of queens and princesses.
58. Dharma, Artha, Kāma: Virtue, Wealth, Love.
59. Sweets made of flour, sugar, butter, milk and coconut.
60. Here and in other passages, ‘wisdom’ refers to political wisdom, shrewd diplomacy, knowledge of realpolitik.
61. Sri or Rājyalakshmī: Sovereignty and Royal Glory personified.
62. Hero of the epic Rāmāyaṇa, banished to the forests.
63. The magnanimous daitya-monarch bound by Viṣṇu by a trick and pushed down into the underworld.
64. The five Pāndavas who lost the game of dice and lived in exile for thirteen years.
65. The clan of which Krsna was the chief; they ran amok and killed one another through a curse.
66. Nala, King of the Nishadas, who forfeited his kingdom to his cousin in a game of dice.
67. Arjuna, the third Pāndava brother; see note 50, above.
68. Rāvaṇa, King of Lankā, who abducted Rama’s wife, Sita, and was killed in the battle for her rescue.
69. Ràma’s father, who had to banish his son to keep his promise to his junior queen, Kaikeyī.
70. Svarga—Realm of the Immortals or the Shining Ones (Devas) ruled over by Indra.
71. Indra.
72. An ancient emperor of the Solar Race of kings, ruler of Ayodhyà, Rāma’s distant ancestor.
73. Pṛthu, after whom the Earth is named Prthvī; he was born from the right arm of his dead father, a mythical first emperor.
74. The primal ancestor of mankind, born of the sun.
75. A mythical king, born of his father without a mother and nursed by Indra himself; conquered the whole world and ruled it from the eastern to the western oceans.
76. Satyavrata—literally, one who vows to speak the truth; Bhīṣma, or the eldest Pāṇḍava, Yudhisthira, may be referred to; also a name for Triśaṅku who tried to ascend bodily to heaven but remained suspended midway in space.
77. Nahuṣa, chosen temporarily as Lord of the Immortals he became arrogant and was cursed to become a serpent.
78. Devas: the Immortals.
79. One of Viṣṇu’s names; literally, one who has long and beautiful hair.
80. Time.
Book IV
1. Raktamukha.
2. Vikarālamukha.
3. The Sanskrit word ‘atithi’ signifies one who comes unannounced, uninvited and unexpectedly; literally, it means one who comes without a date, a-tithi, date-less.
4. The text specifies this as Vaisvedevante: at the close of the twice-daily rites when offerings are made into the sacred fire to all the divine powers before the morning and evening meals.
5. Svarga.
6. Śrāddha ceremonies to the Pitris or Manes.
7. Ambrosia is believed to confer eternal youth and life.
8. The words that establish a relationship or articulate a binding oath.
9. The word ‘dauhrda’ in the text suggests the uncontrollable craving for certain foods during pregnancy.
10. Note the wordplay on heart.
11. A she-mule is believed to die the moment she gives birth.
12. Priya darsana, literally, beautiful to look at.
13. Literally, Gangā’s Gift.
14. An important writer on law; author of a treatise on policy with special reference to mistrust.
15. Karalakesara.
16. Dhūsaraka—thecolourofdust.
17. Sacred grass used in religious rites.
18. The terms ‘uncle’ and ‘nephew’ for an elder and a younger person are modes of friendly and courteous address.
19. Laundry man or washerman.
20. Killing a woman is a deadly sin.
21. Kama, Eros.
22. Kama or Love.
23. Prayers to gods and to ancestors and purificatory rites, etc.
24. According to the rules of hierarchy, the master eats first then the servant.
25. We see here a play on the name. Yudhiṣṭhira, the eldest of the Pāṇḍava brothers in the Mahābhārata who was renowned as a speaker of truth as a matter of principle; the potter, however, tells the truth because he is dim-witted.
26. There are two mythical mountains, the eastern and western, where the sun is believed to rise and set respectively.
27. Linga.
28. A woman who has given birth is given a special diet.
29. Heads are shaved completely on certain occasions as part of the ceremonies.
30. Nanda.
31. Vararuchi.
32. Śuddha pata.
33. The donkey is a beast of burden for the dhobi to carry the washing back and forth.
34. The word nagnikā has the double meaning of a naked woman and whore.
35. Sāma, dāna, bheda, daṇda: conciliation, bribery, intrigue, war.
36. Or by exchanging seven words; see note 10 on p.444.
37. Literally, throwing oneself at the fee
t of someone.
38. When it is bored and strung.
39. Spotted.
40. That is, she did not bother to put things away and lock the doors, etc.
Book V
1. Pāṭaliputra: Pāṭali is the pale-pink, fragrant blossom of the trumpet-tree, a species of Bignonia.
2. Manibhadra, a yaksa who was the patron saint of merchants.
3. The ocean, or rain clouds.
4. A trillion.
5. Jaina monk.
6. Mahāvira, founder of Jainism, who conquered the ills of existence.
7. The mouth and nose.
8. Priests who officiate at ceremonies and rituals in households and are fed as part of those rites.
9. Digambara Jain monks go about naked.
10. A Brāhmana lady.
11. Region round Ujjain, in Madhya Pradesh.
12. Śiva’s shrine of Mahākāla in Ujjain on the banks of the Śiprá.
13. Bhairavananda.
14. Viṣṇu; the myth alluded to is that of the churning of the Milky Ocean, from which rose a number of objects of beauty, Lakshmi or Beauty being one of them.
15. One of the forms of Agni or fire, in the form of a mare.
16. According to Wilson, Udayana of the Vatsas may be referred to here; he was celebrated as a skilled player on the lute or Viṇa.
17. Rāma, epic hero; there is a time lapse of several centuries between the two kings mentioned.
18. Kubera, Lord of Yakṣas.
19. Buddhi includes the meanings of good sense or common sense, judgement and wit.
20. These are all listed in all treatises on music, e.g., the Sangitaratnākara of Sārangadeva and earlier works on the subject.
21. Rasas.
22. The story tells of how Rāvana in his pride tried to uproot Mount Kailāsa itself with Śiva and Pārvatī sitting on it. Feeling the mountain shake, the goddess grew afraid and the Great Lord knowing what caused it, pressed down with his big toe, crushing the trapped Rāvaṇa, who cut off one his ten heads and making it into a stringed instrument drew such divine music from it that the Lord, enchanted, relented and let him go.
23. For sexual union.
24. Uśaṇās or Śukra, a celebrated law giver and author of the famous treatise on realpolitik or statecraft.
25. Soma Śarma.
26. Svabhāva-Kripana: literally, a man naturally mean or pitiable.
27. Chandra.
28. Kubera.
29. Svarga or the Immortal Worlds of Light.
30. Alternately, in a place easy of access.
31. Alternately: it is a place inaccessible to human beings.
32. There are thirty-two marks of beauty listed.
33. To signify acceptance.
34. Bṛhaspati.
35. The five chapters or threads.
36. The five short narratives.
* Key to quotations from and references to the translation of the text: The books or tantras are referred to by roman numerals; the tales and verses by Indian numerals in universal use; lines of prose in the translation are referred to by using points and plus and minus signs after a verse number; eg. II.3.-6 refers to the sixth prose line before verse 3 and II.3.+2 to the second line after verse 3.