Mahabharata: Vol. 5

by Debroy, Bibek

  212After gods have had their share.

  213The Sanskrit states brahman. This is important because most translations and interpretations interpret this brahman as the Vedas and therefore suggest sacrifices prescribed by the Vedas. Not only is this interpretation forced, the Gita doesn’t generally assign such supremacy to the Vedas. Most ritual yajnas involve offerings made to the fire and Agni is therefore thought of as the mouth of the gods. In this broader definition of yajnas, probably no more than that extended metaphor is meant, when thinking of the brahman’s mouth.

  214That is, a yajna where offerings of objects have the main focus.

  215The knowledge.

  216Sannyasa is sometimes interpreted as renunciation or the giving up of action and jnana yoga or the path of knowledge is therefore interpreted as this path of inaction. This chapter compares sannyasa yoga and karma yoga and argues against such a narrow interpretation of sannyasa and jnana.

  217That is, karma yoga. Hence, practice of action.

  218The issue arises because pursuit of knowledge (jnana yoga) has been stated to be better and this suggests renunciation (sannyasa) of action. Yet, there is an emphasis on karma yoga.

  219That is, one doesn’t have to renounce the world or renounce action to become a sannyasi.

  220Opposite sentiments of happiness and unhappiness, love and aversion and so on.

  221More literally, children.

  222In the Sanskrit, the word sankhya stands for knowledge or renunciation and the word yoga for action or karma yoga.

  223Alternatively, renunciation can only be attained with difficulty.

  224That is, sleep.

  225Open and close refers to the action of the eyelids.

  226The atman doesn’t get involved in senses, action or objects.

  227This amounts to transcending the personal ego of thinking oneself to be the performer of action.

  228Attachment to fruits of action, as well as to egos. Yogis means karmayogis.

  229Alternatively, peace that results from steadfastness.

  230Recognizing that action is performed by the senses and the organs. That is, action is mentally discarded, not physically.

  231The nine gates of the body are two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the mouth, the anus and the genital organ.

  232The word used in the Sanskrit is prabhu, meaning lord. Depending on how lord is interpreted, the meaning can change. For instance, lord can be interpreted as the lord of all the worlds, instead of lord of the body, as we have interpreted it. For instance, in the next shloka, the paramatman or lord of the worlds is meant and the word used is vibhu, meaning supreme lord. Therefore, prabhu probably means the atman.

  233The word used is svabhava, meaning one’s own nature.

  234The great truth can also be interpreted as the paramatman.

  235Throughout this shloka, that means the paramatman.

  236More literally, those beings do not return.

  237The word used is shvapaka, which means dog-eater or someone who cooks food for dogs. This is usually equated with chandala or outcaste.

  238This is not very clear. We have translated sarga, which can also mean creation, as the earth. The sense probably is that one can win or overcome this earth, with its birth and death, in this world itself, without waiting for future worlds.

  239Those whose minds are established in equality.

  240That is, pleasure through the senses.

  241This world or this body.

  242Inside means in the atman.

  243Because the brahman exists all around.

  244This is kumbhaka.

  245The free sage is doing the knowing. In this shloka, the subject is not explicitly stated. And it is also the free sage who attains peace.

  246There was a reference to dhyana or meditation earlier and this takes the discussion forward.

  247The word used is sannyasi.

  248The word used is niragni. Agni (the fire) is associated with prescribed rites and sacrifices and niragni is someone who has given up the sacred fire, that is, these rites and rituals. Such a person is a mendicant who lives by alms.

  249Tranquillity in the sense of self-possession. The word used is shama and this has also been translated as inaction. In that case, inaction is the means for a person who has ascended to yoga.

  250Realizing the essence of the atman is the core of yoga. One should use one’s own self or atman to understand the true nature of the atman. Then the self or atman becomes the true atman’s friend. Otherwise, it is the true atman’s enemy.

  251Specifically, controlled the senses.

  252Transcending emotions like attachment and aversion.

  253Union between the paramatman and the jivatman is the core of yoga. But here, the word paramatman is used in the sense of the jivatman.

  254The words jnana and vijnana are both used. Both mean knowledge. But as mentioned earlier, jnana is knowledge obtained through instruction and vijnana is knowledge obtained through self-realization and introspection.

  255The words suhrida and mitra are both used. As mentioned earlier, suhrida is a well-wisher and a mitra is someone with whom one works together.

  256Udasin and madhyastha both refer to disputes. Udasin is someone who is neutral to the dispute and madhyastha is someone who tries to arbitrate.

  257We have translated bandhu as friend. As mentioned earlier, a bandhu is someone from whom one cannot bear to be separated and generally means a relative.

  258Such a person.

  259Without receiving and giving objects.

  260Kusha is sacred grass. On a bed of kusha grass, will first be placed the hide (ajina) of an animal (like a tiger) and then on top of that, a piece of cloth (chaila) to get the seat.

  261Tip of one’s nose is the literal translation. Some say, tip or top of the nose is to be interpreted from the bottom up, so it means the middle of the eyebrows. Others say the tip means the sky ahead of the tip of the nose.

  262The sentence sounds incomplete in the English rendering. But the description is of a state when yoga is achieved.

  263The yogi.

  264The sentence sounds incomplete in the English rendering. Again, that is when yoga is achieved.

  265The subject is suppressed in the Sanskrit. It is the yogi, practising yoga.

  266The word hopelessness requires clarification. Hopelessness can result because one may practise yoga for a long time without getting close to liberation.

  267The two words sankalpa (wish) and kama (desire) are almost synonymous and the Gita often uses them interchangeably. However, this shloka draws a difference between the two, suggesting that desire results from wishes.

  268That is, thinking about nothing else. What has been described is also called raja yoga or samadhi yoga. This has eight components— yama (the practice of moral virtues), niyama (purity in habits, study and practice of austerities), asana (posture), pranayama (the control of breath), pratyahara (withdrawal of the mind), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (merging with the paramatman).

  269This can also be translated as without ignorance.

  270Because of the realization that there is no difference between one’s own self and someone else.

  271In every being.

  272Of the mind.

  273Restraining the mind is as difficult as restraining the wind.

  274The word both needs explanation. Such a person is denied liberation because he has deviated from yoga. At the same time, he is deprived heavenly pleasures because he hasn’t followed that path either.

  275The word used is tata.

  276Even if this falls short of the complete yoga of liberation or deviates from the path.

  277There are many such worlds (lokas) and it will be incorrect to think of this only as heaven (svarga). The Gita will have more details later.

  278The subject is suppressed in the Sanskrit.

  279About liberation.

  280To the path of yoga.

  281The word used in
the Sanskrit is shabdabrahma, as opposed to the paramatman, brahman or parabrahma. Shabdabrahma is the ritualistic elements of the Vedas, the karma kanda. A person who wishes to know about yoga does better than someone who practises rituals alone.

  282Those who are learned in the sacred texts alone.

  283Those who perform action like sacrifices for the purpose of attaining heaven.

  284The first six chapters constitute almost a distinct sub-component of the Gita. Although this first sub-component also has a mix of jnana yoga and even bhakti yoga, the emphasis is on karma yoga. With the seventh chapter, we move to the second sub-component and there is a switch in emphasis to bhakti yoga.

  285This is knowledge through self-realization (vijnana), as opposed to knowledge through instruction or texts (jnana).

  286By implication, among thousands.

  287More generally, energy.

  288The Gita uses the expression apara prakriti. This corresponds to what is called prakriti in sankhya philosophy, the original source of the material world. And the Gita uses the expression para prakriti for what is called purusha in sankhya philosophy. Apara prakriti is inert or inactive and insensate. Para prakriti is active and sensate.

  289Para prakriti.

  290Sensate and insensate.

  291Para prakriti.

  292The word used in the text is pranava.

  293The word used is paurusha and in stating that the brahman is present in human prowess, there are two related nuances. First, prowess has a divine origin and therefore, one shouldn’t be vain about it. Second, if the brahman is present in humans as prowess, there is no reason for weakness and one should attempt to awaken this innate prowess.

  294Desire is kama and is an emotion that concerns objects that haven’t been obtained. Attachment is raga and is an emotion that concerns objects that have already been obtained and are in one’s possession.

  295Everyone is not able to transcend desire. For ordinary people, some desire that concerns householder’s duties or the physical act of existence is sanctioned by dharma.

  296Bhava has been translated as condition. When sattva dominates, the condition is characterized by thirst for knowledge, lack of attachment and the like. When rajas dominates, the condition is characterized by delight, pride, lust and the like. When tamas dominates, the condition is characterized by sorrow, illusion, sloth and the like.

  297The word used is maya and is commonly translated as illusion. For present purposes, maya seems to mean apara prakriti or prakriti of sankhya philosophy, created from the three gunas and therefore, constituting ignorance.

  298In this world or in heaven. The first three categories are driven by desire, of one form or another.

  299Always united with me and worshipping me alone.

  300These four.

  301That form of god or idol.

  302That rite or method.

  303Those worshippers.

  304Are temporary.

  305Dvanda, mentioned earlier. Opposite sensations like pleasure and pain or happiness and unhappiness.

  306The jivatman.

  307This takes off from the last shloka of the last chapter, where there is a reference to the one who underlies all beings (adhibhuta), underlies all gods (adhidaiva) and underlies all yajnas (adhiyajna). This chapter is an answer to Arjuna’s questions about these and reiterates the road to unification with the supreme spirit.

  308The Sanskrit uses the expression adhyatma. This is usually, but not always, interpreted as the individual atman or jivatman. Adhyatma has also been interpreted as the natural trait of any object.

  309These expressions occur in the last verse of the preceding chapter. We have translated adhibhuta as that which underlies all beings and adhidaiva as that which underlies all gods. Adhibhuta is the temporary element that occupies all beings, such as that object’s nature or the body. Adhidaiva is the creator, Hiranyagarbha or Brahma. That last verse of the preceding chapter also has reference to that which underlies all yajnas, that is, adhiyajna. Adhiyajna is Vishnu. However, as we have said earlier, adhyatma has also been interpreted as the natural trait of any object. In that interpretation, adhibhuta is the temporary trait of any object and adhidaiva is its permanent counterpart. Paraphrased, the brahman is without qualities. But the brahman is manifested in a form with qualities for purposes of creating the universe and the elements and that is adhyatma. However, the universe and all action are temporary, they are adhibhuta. Nevertheless, the universe and all action retain a permanent quality and that is adhidaiva.

  310Adhiyajna.

  311In sacrifices.

  312The subject is suppressed in the Sanskrit. The subject is the yogi and he attains the supreme spirit.

  313Beyond darkness can be interpreted in the metaphorical sense of being beyond transient nature. This description of the supreme spirit draws on the Upanishads.

  314The thinking is taking place at the time of death.

  315The Sanskrit says all the gates, and we have translated this as all the senses and organs. As mentioned earlier, the nine gates of the body are the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the mouth, the anus and the genital organ.

  316Through rebirth.

  317Through rebirth.

  318There are seven lokas or worlds and in ascending order, these are bhuh (the earth), bhuvah, svah, mahah, janah, tapah and satya or brahma. Depending on one’s action, one may attain one of these lokas. But that residence there is temporary and is only for the duration that one’s righteous action entitles one to. Thereafter, one is reborn on earth unless one attains the brahman, when one is freed from the cycle.

  319Yuga is an era or epoch. Each of Brahma’s days consists of four yugas—satya, treta, dvapara and kali. But before that, time is not the same for the gods and humans. Six human months correspond to a divine day and six human months correspond to a divine night. Therefore, 360 human years are equivalent to one divine year. Measured in divine years, satya yuga is 4,000 years, treta yuga is 3,000 years, dvapara yuga is 2,000 years and kali yuga is 1,000 years, giving a total of 10,000 years. But there are also 500 years as transition periods from one yuga to another, so a four yuga cycle actually consists of 12,000 divine years. A four yuga cycle, known as mahayuga, is therefore 4,320,000 human years, satya yuga contributing 1,728,000, treta yuga 1,296,000, dvapara yuga 864,000 and kali yuga 432,000 years. One thousand mahayugas are Brahma’s day and another 1,000 mahayugas are Brahma’s night. Each of Brahma’s days is called a kalpa. The beginning of a kalpa is when creation occurs and at the end of the kalpa, there is destruction.

  320There is an emphasis that it is the same beings that are born again and again.

  321The first unmanifest is Brahma when he is sleeping, or nature (prakriti). The second unmanifest is the brahman or paramatman.

  322Kala should actually be translated as time or period. But, in what follows, the enumeration is of path or road. Broadly, there are two roads to liberation— devayana and pitriyana. Devayana is the path of austerities, penance and knowledge, leading to the attainment of brahmaloka (Brahma’s world). Pitriyana is the path of action, righteous householder duties and action, leading to the attainment of chandraloka (the world of the moon).

  323Shuklapaksha.

  324Uttarayana, when the sun is in the northern solstice.

  325This is descriptive of devayana. Those who follow devayana are said to first attain energy and then, in ascending order, day, shuklapaksha, six months of uttarayana, the year, the sun, the moon, lightning, ending with brahmaloka.

  326Krishnapaksha.

  327Dakshinayana, when the sun is in the southern solstice.

  328Is subject to rebirth. This is descriptive of pitriyana. Those who follow pitriyana are said to first attain smoke and then, in ascending order, night, krishnapaksha, six months of dakshinayana, pitriloka (the world of the ancestors), and the sky, ending with chandraloka.

  329The nature of the paramatman has been discussed in the preceding chapter and that chapter also explained b
hakti yoga. This chapter extends those arguments and it is argued that compared to jnana yoga, the path of bhakti yoga is easier. In addition, the path of bhakti yoga is one that is available to everyone.

  330The Sanskrit can be translated as someone who is not envious or not a detractor who finds fault. Had Arjuna been such a person, secret knowledge shouldn’t have been divulged to him.

  331As mentioned earlier, knowledge is jnana and self-realization is vijnana.

  332Both for secret and knowledge, the qualifying word raja is used. This can also be translated as royal. That explains the title of the chapter.

  333This apparent contradiction is the reason why the word yoga is used in this shloka. The paramatman is both with qualities (saguna) and nirguna (without qualities). In saguna form, beings are established in the paramatman, but not in nirguna form. Also, the paramatman is not established in beings because it is more than beings and the universe taken together.

  334At the end of a kalpa, destruction takes place and creation occurs when a new kalpa starts.

  335The beings are helpless because their rebirth and nature is preordained by their earlier action.

  336Alternatively, because of this, the universe goes round and round.

  337That is, those who are ignorant and show disrespect. Actually, the words asura and rakshasa are both used in the Sanskrit and we have captured both as demons. However, asura is the antithesis of gods (sura) and rakshasa is a separate species.

  338The subject is actually suppressed in the Sanskrit.

  339Worshipping as one means regarding the worshipper and the worshipped as identical. This can be called the advaitva attitude. Worshipping as separate is the dvaitva attitude, where the worshipper and the worshipper are regarded as distinct.

  340Kratu, yajna and svadha are all words for sacrifices, but they have been listed separately in the shloka. Svadha is a sacrifice performed specifically for dead ancestors, like shraddha ceremonies. Kratu is a ritualistic yajna, with prescribed rites. The word yajna can be used in the broader and non-ritualistic sense.

  341The respective hymns that collectively constitute the Rig, the Sama and the Yajur Veda.