507 Balarama.
508 Yudhishthira.
509 Shini’s grandson is Satyaki.
510 Arjuna.
511 The Yadavas.
512 Vanamali means one who wears a garland of wild flowers and is usually Krishna’s epithet. But here, it is being used for Balarama.
513 Jasmine.
514 Krishna.
515 Dhritarashtra.
516 Dhritarashtra.
517 The Pandavas. The word son is being used in a loose sense.
518 Vichitravirya was Dhritarashtra’s father.
519 Bhima’s conquest of the east has been described in Section 23 (Volume 2).
520 Sahadeva’s conquest of the south has been described in Section 23 (Volume 2). Dantakura was the capital of Kalinga and there may be a typo here. Kalinga is not in the south and there is no mention of Dantakura in Section 23 (Volume 2).
521 Referring to Nakula. Nakula’s conquest of the west has been described in Section 23 (Volume 2).
522 Droupadi.
523 The text refers to Dharma tangentially. The three objectives of worldly existence (trivarga) are dharma, artha and kama and foremost among them is dharma. Instead of saying Dharma, the text says the foremost of trivarga.
524 Dhritarashtra’s son, Duryodhana.
525 Sharnga is the name of Krishna’s bow.
526 Arjuna. Arjuna also taught Satyaki the art of war.
527 Duryodhana’s.
528 Rohini was Balarama’s mother.
529 Pradyumna is Krishna’s son and this ‘your’ is being used in a general sense.
530 Since Pradyumna has already been mentioned, this means Samba. Samba was Krishna’s son, through Jambavati.
531 It was Pradyumna, not Samba, who was kidnapped by the demon Shambara. Pradyumna was kidnapped when still a child and eventually killed Shambara. This shloka probably belongs earlier, when Pradyumna’s valour is being described.
532 Samba, not Pradyumna, seems to have killed Ashvachakra in battle. It is not clear who Ashvachakra was.
533 Pradyumna’s son and Krishna’s grandson.
534 Yudhishthira had sworn an oath that he would be banished and could not become king until that period was over.
535 Karna.
536 Krishna is usually referred to as Madhava. The Yadavas are known as Madhava because one of their lines was descended from Madhu. Thus Satyaki, and not just Krishna, is also Madhava.
537 Yudhishthira.
538 The Kekaya brothers were divided in the Kurukshetra War, with some on the side of the Pandavas and the others on the side of the Kouravas. By the lord or king of Kekaya one means Vrihatkshatra, the eldest of the Kekaya brothers who fought on the side of the Pandavas. By the lord or king of Chedi one means Dhrishtaketu, Shishupala’s son, who was instated on the throne after Shishupala’s death.
539 Krishna.
540 Yudhishthira is now speaking to Satyaki.
541 Krishna.
542 Yudhishthira.
543 Indra.
544 Another name for Amurtarayasa.
545 Assisting priests.
546 Koushika is one of Indra’s names.
547 The Ashvins.
548 Meaning, someone who is old and is about to die.
549 His wife.
550Mada means intoxication, insanity, arrogance.
551 Pushkara is a specific tirtha and is a proper name. But it also means a body of water in general.
552 That is, attained salvation. Dhata and Vidhata are both words for the creator. Dhata has the nuance of someone who preserves, while Vidhata has the nuance of someone who arranges.
553 In the art of telling stories.
554 Another name for Yuvanashva.
555 Into the water.
556 Derived from mam dhata, ‘the nurse will be me’.
557 The word used is kishku. Kishku is the length of a forearm, that is, one cubit.
558 This is a reference to Vishnu’s vamana (dwarf) avatara, where Vishnu covered the three worlds in his three strides.
559 Chakra. An emperor is known as chakravarti.
560 A padma is one thousand billion, that is, one trillion.
561 Indra. Indra showers down rain.
562 Mandhata killed the king of Gandhara.
563 This is in the singular. So Somaka is addressing the chief priest.
564 That is, they have grown old.
565 The chief priest.
566 The priest.
567 Yama, the god of death.
568 Meaning Yayati, the son of Nahusha.
569 A tree believed to have fire inside it.
570 Parashurama.
571 Richika’s son is Jamadagni and Jamadagni’s son is Parashurama. The text uses the word ‘son’ in an extended sense and Parashurama, rather than Jamadagni, is meant.
572 An ulukhala is a wooden mortar used for cleaning rice.
573 All of these are spots around Kurukshetra.
574 Beyond the suggestion that one shouldn’t dwell there for more than one night, it is impossible to understand what this means.
575 Meaning Arjuna.
576 Meaning Kurukshetra. Kshetra means field and Kurukshetra literally means Kuru’s field.
577 Having disappeared into the desert, the Sarasvati reappears in three places further downstream—Chamasodbheda, Shirobheda and Nagobheda.
578 The Beas.
579 The story has been recounted in Section 11 (Volume 1).
580 Kashmir, but written as Kashmira because of the style we have followed.
581 Meaning Yayati, Nahusha’s son.
582 The Lake Manas or Manasa Sarovar. Mount Kailasha is next to Manasa Sarovar and the reference to Parashurama concerns Kailasha.
583 Parashurama.
584 Padma.
585 Rukmini is Krishna’s wife.
586 Meaning death.
587 Suparna is one of Garuda’s names.
588 A plantain tree is weak. Therefore, one should not climb it.
589 Agni. The text uses Havyavahana, one of Agni’s names, meaning the bearer of sacrificial offerings.
590Ashta is eight and vakra is bent or crooked, the reference being to a physical deformity.
591 Bandi was thus a suta or charioteer.
592 Shvetaketu’s father, that is, Uddalaka.
593 Ashtavakra.
594 King Janaka and Ashtavakra met each other on the road. Since the king was travelling along the same road, Ashtavakra seems to have been restrained by a guard or gatekeeper.
595 Ashtavakra spoke to King Janaka. This part is not very smooth. Ashtavakra thereafter speaks to the gatekeeper and the conversation with King Janaka doesn’t quite belong. It resumes again later.
596 Brahmanas are being compared to fires and there is no brahmana who is minor.
597 The word used is tata. This means son and is used affectionately for any inferior. Ashtavakra is addressing the gatekeeper, who is an inferior.
598 Indradyumna was Janaka’s father.
599 These are Bandi’s words.
600 The preceptor.
601 The silk-cotton tree.
602 That is, the number of relatives.
603 This is a quote being ascribed to the sages.
604 Of time. Twenty-four hours in the day, six seasons, twelve months and three hundred and sixty days.
605 Agni or the fire-god has the wind as a charioteer and the two are thunder and lightning, causing fire and originating in fire.
606 This is being addressed to Bandi.
607 The act of conception, the birth and the related rituals and initiation at the time of the thread-bearing ceremony.
608 A reference to the three Vedas recited at the sacrifice, the Atharva Veda not being included.
609 Pressing to extract the soma juice. There are four types of officiating priests—hotar (one who recites from the Rig Veda), udgatar (one who recites from the Sama Veda), adhvaryu (one who recites from the Yajur Veda) and brahman (one who recites from the At
harva Veda).
610 The sun, the moon and the stars.
611 Brahmacharya, garhasthya, vanavasa and sannyasa.
612 This is a completely literal translation. However, the word go also means speech and in addition to feet, the word pada means one-fourth of a shloka. This may very well have been the intended meaning.
613 The five sacred fires known as dakshina, garhapatya, ahavaniya, sabhya and avasathya. There are also believed to be five digestive fires in the body.
614 Again, the word used is pada. Pankti means any collection of five.
615 The five daily sacrifices required to be performed by any householder—adhyana (studying), brahma yajna, pitri yajna, deva yajna and bhuta yajna.
616 Apsaras are believed to have five tufts of hair. We have deviated from the Critical Edition’s text here. The Critical Edition leaves it dangling and the line ends abruptly. So we do not know who has five tufts of hair. Other versions mention apsaras.
617 The five rivers of the Punjab—Shatadru, Vipasha, Iravati, Chandrabhaga and Vitasta.
618 The five standard organs and the mind.
619 The third of the twenty-seven nakshatras, the constellation Pleiades, consisting of six stars.
620 A sadasyka is a rite connected with a soma sacrifice and six such rites are performed on a single day.
621 The seven types of domestic animals are a cow, a goat, a sheep, a man, a horse, a mule and an ass and the inclusion of a man in listings of domestic animals is interesting. But this list does vary from one text to another. The seven wild animals are a lion, a tiger, a boar, a monkey, a bear, an elephant and a buffalo.
622Chhanda. The list of seven varies, but the standard list is gayatri, trishtupa, jagati, anushtupa, pankti, brihati and kakupa.
623 The saptarshis. The usual list is Marichi, Atri, Angira, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Vasishtha.
624 This listing is not immediately clear.
625 This is probably a reference to coinage or weight. In coinage, shana or karshapana is mentioned and shatamana (literally, one hundred units) is also mentioned. This may refer to the conversion between shana and shatamana.
626 Sharabha is mythical and has evolved over time. Sharabha has eight legs, lives in the mountains, slays lions and lives on raw flesh. In later versions, Sharabha is also described as an incarnation of Shiva’s and in that form, Shiva tamed Vishnu’s half-man and half-lion (narasimha) incarnation.
627 The numerals 1 to 9.
628 There is a problem in translating this. Does this mean there are ten stages in life and does each of these stages refer to a decade? A typo is more likely. The text should probably read disha rather than dasha. In that case, the ten directions are meant. Some non-Critical versions do read disha.
629 This is difficult to understand. The Dasherakas, Dashas and Dasharnas are all tribes or clans of people mentioned in the Mahabharata. Perhaps this means that each of these tribes or clans were further subdivided into ten subgroups.
630 Ekadashi is observed on the eleventh lunar day.
631 The meaning is unclear.
632 Dvipa.
633 The meaning is unclear.
634 Jataveda is one of Agni’s ephithets. Jataveda means one who knows the Vedas and is also generally used for someone who knows.
635 Shleshmataki is a kind of tree with bitter fruit. Has Bandi been weakened because of eating this fruit?
636 Kahoda will be resurrected.
637 The name of a river.
638 Bharata, the ancestor of the Bharata lineage. Although written in the translation as Bharata, the descendants are Bhaarata.
639 Because Indra had killed the brahmana Vritra.
640 Bharadvaja.
641 Koushika is one of Indra’s epithets.
642 There are no quotation marks in the text. But we have inserted them, as this seems to be what the gods told Valadhi.
643 That is, as long as the mountains were around, the son would not die.
644 Madhava is another name for the month of Vaishakha.
645 Raibhya’s.
646 The daughter-in-law.
647 A kritya is a female deity, worshipped for magical and destructive purposes.
648Kamandalu.
649 The kritya.
650 The guard remained seated and did not stand up on seeing Bharadvaja.
651 Because Yavakrita’s kamandalu had been stolen, he could not clean himself.
652 A yatudhana is an evil spirit or demon.
653 The word used is Suparna. Suparna is one of Garuda’s names, though the text uses Suparna in the plural. Therefore, these are semi-divine birds, more than ordinary birds.
654 Lomasha is reciting this invocation to Ganga.
655 Ajamidha was a common ancestor of the Kouravas and the Pandavas.
656 Referring to Lomasha’s nervousness.
657 The word used is tata, which can affectionately be used for anyone who is younger or inferior.
658 Shvetavahana is literally one whose transport (vahana) is white (shveta) meaning one whose horses are white. Arjuna’s horses are white and Shvetavahana is one of Arjuna’s names.
659 Nakula and Sahadeva.
660 Droupadi is presumably speaking to Bhima. But it could be Yudhishthira too.
661 Kiratas, tanganas and kunindas are all mountain-dwelling hunter races.
662 That is, when the sun could be clearly seen.
663 Arjuna’s absence.
664 Referring to Arjuna. Yajnaseni is Droupadi’s name.
665 Arjuna’s name.
666 Indra.
667 Balarama.
668 Sahadeva was in charge of carrying the sacred fire.
669 Yudhishthira.
670 Calloused from wielding bows.
671 Meaning Droupadi.
672 As will be clear, other rakshasas had come to help Ghatotkacha.
673 Other rakshasas.
674 Barbarians, those who do not speak Sanskrit.
675 Badari is a jujube tree. The hermitage of Badari is so named because a giant badari tree stood there.
676 The text says kamala and utpala. Kamala is lotus in general, while utpala is either a blue lotus or a lily.
677 Bhima was the wind-god’s son.
678 Eight elephants guard the eight cardinal points.
679 To search for Bhima.
680 Garuda is the king of the birds.
681 A kind of deer.
682 Both Hanuman and Bhima were sons of Vayu or the wind-god, though from different mothers. Hanuman was the older of the two.
683Nirguna, or without qualities. The paramatman is synonymous with the brahman.
684 The use of ‘Him’ shouldn’t suggest there is a gender in the Sanskrit. There isn’t. But without using ‘Him’, there are difficulties in translation.
685 Indra’s weapon is vajra, but here the intention is metaphorical. The word used is ayudha, which means weapon. A rainbow is called Indra’s bow and the metaphor is of a rainbow.
686 The word used is kshetra, best translated as field. Kesari was a chief of the monkeys and was married to Anjana. Thus, Anjana is Kesari’s field or kshetra. However, Hanuman was the son of Vayu and Anjana, not Kesari and Anjana.
687 Sugriva was Vali’s younger brother.
688 Dasharatha’s son.
689 On Ravana’s instructions, Maricha adopted the form of a deer.
690 Sugriva.
691 This vulture, or giant bird, was named Sampati.
692 In the kingdom in Ayodhya.
693 The word tata is affectionately used for anyone who is inferior or younger.
694 The four eras (yuga) are satya (or krita), treta, dvapara and kali. The incidents of the Ramayana occurred in treta yuga and those of the Mahabharata in dvapara yuga. Dharma decays as one moves down these eras.
695 The word krita has several meanings and one meaning is done or accomplished. The sense is that deeds were accomplished in krita yuga.
696 Dharma has four feet (pada) in kr
ita yuga, three in treta, two in dvapara and one in kali. The face of a dice with four spots is also called krita, with three treta, with two dvapara and with one kali.
697 The three qualities (guna) are sattva, rajas and tamas. These were irrelevant in krita yuga.
698 Narayana or Vishnu.
699 In a desire for the fruits of these deeds.
700 Pavana or Vayu is the wind-god and Bhima was his son.
701 Marut is another name for Pavana or Vayu and Hanuman was the wind-god’s son too.
702 Rama is descended from Raghu’s lineage and Raghava is one of Rama’s names.
703 We have translated Sougandhika as a proper name. Sougandhika means something that is extremely fragrant and might be an adjective too.
704 The lord of riches is Kubera.
705 The word used is tata, applied affectionately to any inferior or junior.
706 Brihaspati is the preceptor of the gods and Ushanas (Shukra) is the preceptor of the demons.
707 The word used is dvija. Though sometimes applied to brahmanas, this is also used for the first three varnas—brahmanas, kshatriyas and vaishyas. In the given context, this broader meaning seems to be indicated.
708 Accepting gifts.
709 Students in the brahmacharya stage.
710 Sama is conciliation or pacification, dana is the giving of gifts or bribery, danda is punishment and bheda is the creation of dissension and strife (among enemies).
711 Vijaya is Arjuna’s name. Hanuman was perched on Arjuna’s flagstaff at the time of battle.
712 Hanuman’s.
Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) Page 64