by Bibek Debroy
1304Madhu means honey, as well as sweet and pleasant.
1305The worlds of Vishnu and Brahma respectively.
1306Shesha or Ananta.
1307Madhusudana means the destroyer of Madhu.
1308Narayana.
1309If one has obtained Narayana, rebirth is rare. This is a reference to nivritti.
1310Prakriti.
1311Respectively, deeds, beauty and prosperity.
1312This proably refers to the five sheaths that cover the atman. These are annamaya (related to food), pranamaya (related to energy), manomaya (related to the mind), vijnanamaya (related to knowledge) and anandamaya (related to bliss).
1313Based on the root vas, meaning, reside or dwell.
1314Extinguished their desire.
1315Through the chain of succession from preceptor to disciple.
1316Vasudeva or Purshuttoma is the fourth, higher than Aniruddha, Pradyumna and Samkarshana. The sense is that through knowledge, one goes to Vasudeva, but progressively, through the the other three. However, with faith or devotion, one directly goes to Vasudeva, bypassing the others.
1317In the Bhagavadgita, in Section 63 (Volume 5).
1318Krita yuga.
1319Making it clear that the Krishna in the previous sentence is Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa.
1320Narayana’s eyes.
1321Narayana’s.
1322Narayana’s.
1323Trisouparna is the same as Trisuparna. The Yajur Veda has three mantras that are recited together and these are known as trisuparna.
1324Brahma was born from Narayana’s ears.
1325Narayana.
1326There are fourteen manvantaras in every kalpa. In the present kalpa, we are in the seventh manvantara of Vaivasvat Manu. The six earlier Manus were Svayambhuva, Svarochisha, Uttama, Tamasa, Raivata and Chakshusha.
1327The dharma.
1328The suggestion seems to be that Kukshi was Shudra’s son.
1329Literally, sages who seated themselves on sacrificial grass.
1330From Aditya.
1331The Bhagavadgita.
1332Aniruddha and Aniruddha and Pradyumna respectively.
1333With Samkarshana added.
1334With Vasudeva added.
1335Yoga means getting what has not been obtained. Kshema means protecting what has been obtained.
1336That is, desire.
1337Unless Narayana desires.
1338Even gods and rishis can deviate and undergo transformations of growth and destruction.
1339Om, written as AUM.
1340Through Subhadra, Janamejaya was descended from the Yadavas.
1341Yudhishthira.
1342Vedavyasa.
1343The preceding five probably mean Purusha, Vasudeva, Aniruddha, Pradyumna and Samkarshana.
1344His parents had no other son.
1345The sage Parashara created mist and darkness when Parashara and Satyavati were together.
1346Shiva.
1347The seventh manvantara.
1348This means Narayana.
1349As Shesha.
1350Loosely translated as ‘Hello’.
1351This means someone whose darkness (ignorance) has been destroyed.
1352Apantaratama.
1353The sage Parashara restored Satyavati’s virginity.
1354Literally, the one who moves slowly, Shani or Saturn.
1355That is, Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa himself.
1356Narayana.
1357The famous purushasukta is 10.90 in the Rig Veda and also occurs in the other three Vedas.
1358Rita and satya both mean truth, but there is a subtle difference. Satya means truth vis-a-vis the external world and rita means truth vis-a-vis what is internal.
1359Vyasa.
1360Brahma.
1361Literally, the supreme Purusha.
1362The other Purushas.
1363Bodies.
1364Acts are seeds.
1365The great Purusha.
1366Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Samkarshana and Vasudeva.
1367In bodies.
1368In bodies. The seventeen are the five senses, the five organs of action, five kinds of breaths of life, mind and intelligence.
1369In tne sense of the creator.
1370Literally, the one who is without obstruction or restraint.
1371Shachi is Indra’s wife.
1372Other than the Vedas. A distinction is presumably being drawn between shruti and smriti.
1373That is, the host addressed the guest.
1374There is a break in continuity, because the guest hasn’t said anything, beyond the expected words of salutation.
1375The jivatman and the paramatman respectively.
1376There are grains left after a crop has been harvested, or after grain has been milled. If one subsists on these leftovers, that is known as unchhavritti.
1377Meaning heaven.
1378The nine qualities of rajas are faith, generosity, enjoyment, enterprise, desire, anger, pride, malice and calumny. It is not obvious what the nine qualities mentioned in the text are. But it could be a reference to the nine qualities of rajas, some of which exist and some of which are absent in the serpent.
1379This is also difficult to understand. Perhaps it means that he performs rites in the water. Perhaps it is a reference to serpents dwelling in the water.
1380After gods, ancestors, guests and servants have eaten.
1381When the fortnight was over.
1382The sun’s.
1383Dharma requires control over the senses.
1384Nagas were believed to hear with their eyes.
1385Daksha’s daughters, Kadru and Surasa, were married to the sage Kashyapa. While accounts vary, usually Kadru is described as the mother of serpents (nagas) and Surasa as the mother of snakes (sarpas).
1386The chataka bird waits for rain.
1387Ravana.
1388Kartavirya Arjuna was a king of the Haihaya kingdom. Parashurama’s father was Jamadagni. In one version of the story, Kartavirya Arjuna visited Jamadagni’s hermitage and stole a calf. He and his sons were then killed by Parashurama.
1389Indra.
1390The jivatman and the paramatman respectively.
1391The sun’s.
1392Shukra is Venus. This should probably read Shakra, that is, Indra.
1393This seems to be a reference to the brahman or paramatman.
1394Surya’s name.
1395Everyone is part of the universal brahman.
1396Bhogavati is the capital city of the serpents.
1397Chyavana.
1398Janaka.
1399Parashurama. The story of the battle between Bhishma and Parashurama has been recounted in Section 60 (Volume 5).
Section Eighty-Seven
Dana Dharma Parva
1Death.
2Time or destiny.
3Good or bad behaviour leads to distant fruits in the future. In contrast, killing the snake is an immediately good objective.
4Obviously, Goutami was a brahmana.
5Shiva and Daksha’s sacrifice.
6The fruits are obtained by the performer of the sacrifice.
7Meaning Mrityu.
8The implication is that joy results from doing good and anger results from doing bad. Stated differently, if everything is driven by Kala, how can anything be ‘good’ or ‘bad’?
9Good deeds take them to heaven, bad deeds take them to hell and average deeds lead to rebirth on earth.
10Duryodhana.
11Natural state means personified form.
12Sudarshana means a lady who is beautiful to look at.
13Agni’s name.
14The mother is Sudarshanaa, while the son is Sudarshana.
15Five senses and five organs of action.
16Oghavati is that part of the River Sarasvati that flows through Kurukshetra.
17The guest leaves his bad deeds with the host and takes away the host’s good deeds.
18Listening to the account
.
19Evil spirits or demons.
20Vishvamitra was born as a kshatriya and was the great-grandson of a king named Kusha. Thus, Vishvamitra is also known as Kushika or Koushika. His father was Gadhi.
21Freed by Vishvamitra.
22The offspring of mritapas, and chandalas, are shvapakas, and they are extremely vile. Mritapas are also outcastes.
23Vishvamitra.
24Vipasha means something that releases from bonds (pasha). This is the river Beas.
25This is left unclear. It probably refers to Vishvamitra eventually becoming a brahmana. When this happens, Brahma (presumably the eloquent and illustrious one) arrives, with all the gods following him. Brahma declares that Vishvamitra will henceforth be a brahmana rishi and gives him the name of Vishvamitra.
26Dhruva was Uttanpada’s son and became the Pole Star. The saptarshis constitute the constellation Ursa Major (Great Bear).
27Vishvamitra.
28Descended from this king, Yudhishthira and Dhritarashtra are also occasionally referred to as Ajamidha.
29In the usual stories, Jahnu is described as a sage, who drank up Ganga and later released the water through his ear. Ganga thus became his daughter and is known as Jahnavi.
30Indra.
31The tirtha of the horses. Kanyakubja is Kannauj. Ganga means the Goutami Ganga or the Southern Ganga, that is, Godavari. There is an Ashvatirtha on the banks of the Godavari.
32Charu is a mixture of rice, barley and pulses, cooked in butter and milk and offered as an oblation.
33Obtain the better son for himself.
34Indra.
35Daksha’s daughters were married to the sage Kashyapa and all creatures were born from these unions. The names sometimes differ. Usually, the mother of the birds is said to be Daksha’s daughter, Tamra or Patangi.
36Indra killed a demon named Bala.
37Good deeds.
38This shloka isn’t very clear. It probably means that good and bad deeds lead to greater fear in the world hereafter than in the present world.
39The gods don’t want people to perform deeds and dislodge them. Therefore, they practise deceit and speak of destiny.
40Immediate consequences in this world.
41Yayati’s story has been recounted in Section 7 (Volume 1).
42Pururava’s story has been recounted in Section 7 (Volume 1).
43Soudasa’s story has been recounted in Section 7 (Volume 1).
44Parashurama.
45Uparichara Vasu. The story has been recounted in Section 6 (Volume 1).
46Which Janamejaya is this? Is this Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit? There is a story about this Janamejaya. When he wanted to perform a sacrifice, his queen arrived, wearing transparent clothes. When the brahmanas laughed at this, Janamejaya killed them. Cursed, he became a leper. However, according to this story, he killed the brahmanas, not brahmana women. Assuming this is the right Janamejaya, since Bhishma is recounting this to Yudhishthira, the story doesn’t belong. A speculative and symbolic interpretation has also been applied to this. Parikshit had a brahmana wife too and she was bypassed. In that symbolic sense, Janamejaya killed his brahmana stepmother.
47Vaishampayana didn’t actually kill a brahmana. The sages had decided to assemble on Mount Meru. There was an agreement that any sage who absented himself would incur the sin of killing a brahmana. Engaged in the funeral ceremonies of his father, Vaishampayana absented himself and thus incurred the sin of killing a brahmana.
48The generous King Nriga had promised to give a brahmana a herd of cattle. But when a beggar turned up, Nriga gave the cattle to the beggar and was cursed by the brahmana that he would become a lizard in a well. The lizard was subsequently saved by Krishna.
49Dhundumara’s story has been recounted in Section 37 (Volume 2).
50Metaphorically.
51Implicitly, for a guest.
52In a subsequent life.
53An indirect reference to brahmacharya.
54All of these are references to the field of battle.
55That is, abstinence from drinking.
56If milk is mixed with water, swans have a reputation for drinking the milk, leaving out the water. Learned people can thus distinguish between the good and the bad.
57The reverence is without a desire for fruits.
58Despite lying down on the bed of arrows.
59This requires explanation. Kshatriyas possess energy, brahmanas possess both energy and austerities. Applied against a brahmana who has conquered anger, both are powerless. In general, if energy (the domain of kshatriyas) and austerities (the domain of brahmanas) are released against each other, energy is extinguished, but is unable to completely extinguish the power of austerities.
60Freed from the sin of having gone back on the promise. But this statement about giving away one thousand horses is left dangling.
61The Critical edition abruptly excises some shlokas that figure in non-critical versions. In those, the jackal asks a counter-question to the monkey. The monkey replies that it has been born as a monkey because it (in the earlier life) stole the fruits of brahmanas.
62Because of the abruptness, we do not know who this is.
63This Krishna is probably Vedavyasa.
64Through their curses.
65Literally, kulapati means the head of a family or lineage. In this context, chancellor is more appropriate. More specifically, a kulapati is a teacher who has ten thousand students.
66Seat made of twisted grass and meant for an ascetic.
67The southern direction is inauspicious.
68The other three Vedas.
69The Vedanga that deals with rituals.
70A brahmana must not perform a sacrifice for a shudra. In this case, the brahmana hadn’t actually performed the sacrifice, but had instructed the shudra on how to conduct it. Even that was a transgression.
71The hermitage of the earlier life.
72Rite of initiating a disciple.
73Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and wealth.
74Devaki’s son was Krishna. Rukmini was Krishna’s wife and is regarded as Lakshmi’s incarnation. Krishna and Rukmini’s son was Pradyumna. The one with the makara on the banner is Kama, the god of love, and Pradyumna was his incarnation.
75There are different stories about Lakshmi’s origin. This is a reference to her being born as the daughter of the sage Bhrigu.
76Narayana.
77The text mentions three words for lotus—padma, utpala (also a water-lily) and pankaja.
78The suggestion is that flowers are offered as sacrifices, instead of animal sacrifices.
79A sacrifice that invokes Agni.
80Indra had turned the king into a woman.
81Bhangashvana in the form of a woman.
82A rishi.
83The fixed and immovable one.
84Shiva’s name, meaning the cheerful one.
85The one who sacrifices.
86The guardian or protector.
87The one with the shaved head.
88The one with the matted hair.
89Vasudeva.
90The word used is tata, which means father, but is used for anyone who is older or senior. Yudhishthira was older to Krishna.
91Meaning Bhishma.
92Samba was the son of Krishna and Jambavati. Krishna obtained Samba as a son, after praying to Shiva in the hermitage of the sage Upamanyu.
93Pradyumna was the son of Krishna and Rukmini. Pradyumna killed the demon Shambara.
94Shiva.
95Kshapa means night and also means a day of twenty-four hours. Kshana is a measurement of time, with differing interpretations. A second or an instant is accurate enough. Lava is a small fraction of a second. Muhurta is forty-eight minutes. Nimesha is the twinkling of an eye, a minute.
96Jambavati was the daughter of Jambavan or Jambavat. Jambavat is sometimes described as a king of the bears and sometimes as a king of the apes.
97The king means Ugrasena and Ahuka was Ugrasena’s fa
ther.
98A vidyadhara is a supernatural being. Here, the expression is being used for Jambavati.
99Rama means Balarama. Gada was Krishna’s brother.
100Garuda.
101The axlewood tree.
102The Arjuna tree.
103Kind of tree, Nauclea cadamba.
104Red amaranth.
105The crew pine.
106Rose apple.
107Bignonia suaveolens.
108Banyan, Indian fig tree.
109Garlic pear tree.
110Kind of tree.
111Wood-apple tree.
112Kind of pine.
113Wood-apple tree.
114The Chironji tree.
115Kind of tree.
116Palm tree.
117Jasmine.
118This can mean either nutmeg or a white lotus. Here, white lotus fits better.
119Kind of tree, Saraca indica.
120The Harimantha tree.
121Cashew nut tree.
122The honey tree, Madhuca longifolia.
123Magnolia champaca.
124Jackfruit.
125The fruits.
126That is, Ganga.
127They ate what they found and did not store food.
128Known as ashmakuttas.
129Known as dantolukhalinas.
130Of the sun and the moon.
131Like the cattle.
132Upamanyu.
133Shiva.
134The word used is tata.
135Indra’s.
136Another demon.
137Shiva.
138Brahma.
139Shiva.
140Brahma.
141Shiva.
142Indra.
143As an act of revenge, the Valakhilyas created Garuda/Suparna, who stole the soma from Indra.
144Sacrifice performed in seven vessels.
145Atri’s wife was Anasuya. She left Atri because he was too dominating.
146Shiva.
147This son was Dattatreya.
148Famous sage. The major recension of the Rig Veda that still survives is the Shakalya version.
149This is probably a reference to the Manu of the eighth manvantara.
150The word used is tata.
151Koushika is one of Indra’s names.
152Upamanyu has just finished speaking to Indra. Now he continues speaking to Krishna.
153Indra’s elephant.
154The moon.
155Surabhi is the mother of all cattle and is also the divine cow.
156The embodied form of the weapon.
157To Pashupata.
158Mandhata and his soldiers were defeated by a demon named Lavanasura. Lavanasura had inherited Shiva’s trident from his father, Madhu, and he used this against Mandhata.