by Bibek Debroy
1159 Alternatively, the membrane covering the embryo.
1160 Entering many wombs.
1161 Insects and worms.
1162 Brahma.
1163 Interpreted as the linga sharira.
1164 But this is not true of the jivatman.
1165 Tasks with a motive.
1166 Brahma is also destroyed.
1167 They are still proud of their devotion to Brahma. Thus, they are born again.
1168 Brahma.
1169 Between the jivatman and the paramatman.
1170 Brahma.
1171 The rishis.
1172 Dharma, artha and kama.
1173 Dakshinayana.
1174 That is, in the same families.
1175 Five organs of perception, five organs of action and the mind.
1176 The path of knowledge.
1177 Pravritti is action with a desire for the fruits, whereas nivritti is action without a desire for the fruits.
1178 While this could mean the four ashramas, it probably means sattva, rajas and tamas and the one which is beyond these three.
1179 It is possible to interpret this in many ways, the simplest is that Kapila founded the samkhya school.
1180 From me.
1181 Interpreted as thrice a day.
1182 Akhandala is Indra’s name.
1183 Vishnu’s body.
1184 Interpreted as celestial beings who took care of her.
1185 The stage of emancipation, when everything is extinguished.
1186 Manu gave her to Ruchi. A putrika is a daughter who is regarded as a son. After marriage, she lives in her father’s household. Her son is regarded as her father’s son and becomes the heir. Ruchi and Akuti’s son would thus be brought up as Manu’s son. This is usually done when the father doesn’t have a son. Here, this wasn’t the case, since Manu had sons named Priyavrata and Uttanapada.
1187 Dakshina means the fee given at sacrifices.
1188 The goddess of riches is Lakshmi. The separation bit can be interpreted as Lakshmi never being separated from Vishnu, or as Dakshina never being separated from Yajna.
1189 Dakshina desired Yajna.
1190 From one manvantara to another manvantara, Manu, the gods, the saptarshis and Indra (the title of the ruler of the gods) varies.
1191 Purniman’s.
1192 Ganga.
1193 They were respectively born as parts of Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma.
1194 The Riksha mountains are the eastern part of the Vindhya range.
1195 Today, this is known as the Newaz/Newaj, in Madhya Pradesh.
1196 Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
1197 The respective mounts of Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu. The signs mean a water pot (kamandalu) for Brahma, a trident for Shiva and sudarshana chakra for Vishnu.
1198 Sinivali is the deity (and the day) for the day preceding the night of the new moon; Kuhu is the deity (and the day) for the night of the new moon; Raka is the deity (and the day) for the night of the full moon and Anumati is the deity (and the day) for the fourteenth night of shukla paksha.
1199 Meaning the digestive fire.
1200 Vishrava’s wife.
1201 Vibhishana’s mother was Keshini.
1202 Also known as Arundhati.
1203 Mrikanda from Ayati and Prana from Niyati.
1204 Shukracharya.
1205 Aja is Brahma’s name.
1206 Shiva.
1207 Krishna is also one of Arjuna’s names.
1208 These are different categories of ancestors. For example, Ajyapas accept oblations of ghee, Soumyas (Somapas) accept soma and so on.
1209 Svadha.
1210 The Prajapatis.
1211 Daksha.
1212 Sharva is one of Shiva’s names.
1213 Shiva’s name, one who delights the world.
1214 The Vedas.
1215 A preta is a ghost, the spirit of a dead person, or simply something evil. A bhuta has the same meaning. Strictly speaking, there are differences between preta, bhuta and pishacha (one who lives on flesh). A preta is the spirit (not necessarily evil) of a dead person before the funeral rites have been performed. A bhuta (not necessarily evil again) is the spirit of a dead person who has had a violent death and for whom, proper funeral rites have not been performed, and may not even be performed. A pishacha (necessarily evil) is created deliberately through evil powers. Pramatha is an evil spirit who torments.
1216 The word Shiva means auspicious.
1217 Brahma.
1218 The word used is pashanda.
1219 Sura is a general term for liquor. Asava is made through distillation, not mere fermentation.
1220 The way of the Vedas.
1221 Meaning Shiva.
1222 The one without birth, meaning Shiva.
1223 The one with the dark throat, Shiva’s name.
1224 Whether she went or not.
1225 Nandi.
1226 A sarika bird is a kind of thrush, Turdus salica, a talking bird kept as a pet.
1227 For her to play.
1228 Daksha.
1229 Meaning Daksha, who was performing the sacrifice.
1230 To make it clear, we have taken a few liberties with the text.
1231 ‘Shi’ and ‘va’.
1232 Daksha’s daughter.
1233 Brought equilibrium between prana and apana.
1234 Manipura chakra.
1235 Shiva.
1236 There are three sacred fires at any sacrifice—ahavaniya (to the east), dakshinagni (to the south) and garhapatya (the fire for the householder).
1237 Sati.
1238 Shiva’s name, the one with matted hair on his head.
1239 Virabhadra, his name is mentioned later.
1240 Yama.
1241 Daksha.
1242 King Prachinabarchi, who punished bandits.
1243 Daksha’s wife.
1244 Shiva’s.
1245 Brahma.
1246 When Daksha insulted Shiva.
1247 Meaning Virabhadra.
1248 Shiva.
1249 Virabhadra.
1250 There was a gambling match, at which, Balarama had been deceived. Therefore, he had knocked out the teeth of Dantavakra, the king of Kalinga.
1251 The three-eyed one, Virabhadra.
1252 Virabhadra again, Virabhadra being one of Shiva’s forms.
1253 Pashupati.
1254 Daksha.
1255 Kailasa.
1256 Indra.
1257 Pura means Tripura. Shiva destroyed a city (actually three cities together) of the demons, named Tripura.
1258 Mandara is the coral tree, parijata is also the coral tree, sarala is a kind of pine, tamala is the sacred garlic pearl tree, shala is a kind of tree, tala is the palm tree, kovidara is a kind of orchid, asana (should read ashana) is the Indian laurel, arjuna is a tall tree, chuta is mango, kadamba is a kind of tree, nipa is another name for the kadamba tree, naga (nagakeshara) is a flowering tree, punnaga is nutmeg, champaka is a tree with yellow and fragrant flowers, patala is the Bignonia suaveolens, ashoka is Saraca indica, bakula is a tree with fragrant flowers, kunda is a kind of jasmine and kurabaka is a kind of amaranth tree.
1259 The prickly chaff flower.
1260 Jasmine.
1261 The hiptage shrub.
1262 The cluster fig tree.
1263 The holy fig tree.
1264 Also a holy fig tree.
1265 The banyan tree.
1266 Priyalas.
1267 Honey trees.
1268 A medicinal tree.
1269 Kind of ox.
1270 A sharabha is a mythical eight-footed animal, believed to prey on lions.
1271 Meaning, full of fragrance.
1272 Interpreted as Vishnu.
1273 Kubera, Kubera’s capital is the city of Alaka.
1274 Raktakantha, the Indian cuckoo.
1275 Kubera.
1276 This is known as the virasana posture.
1277 Literally, this means t
he posture adopted for debating and arguing. The tip of the thumb touches the index finger. The other fingers are close together and are held out straight. Tarka mudra specifically refers to the position of the hands, rather than the overall posture. It is also known as jnana mudra.
1278 This probably means the wooden support placed under an armpit, so that the erect posture can be maintained. But the expression is also used for a strap of cloth that is used to keep the left knee in place.
1279 Brahma.
1280 Indra.
1281 In the course of the vamana incarnation.
1282 That is, Daksha followed the recommended path of sacrifices.
1283 But why should you succumb to rage?
1284 The text uses the word shunashira, which means a particular class of gods.
1285 A he-goat. Ka means Daksha here.
1286 Virabhadra and the others.
1287 Garuda’s wings are the Sama Veda hymns, Brihat and Rathantara.
1288 Lakshmi.
1289 Shiva.
1290 Brahma.
1291 Prajapatis.
1292 A reference to the three Vedas.
1293 Of the officiating priests.
1294 Lakshmi.
1295 Daksha’s wife.
1296 Because we are still attached to bodies and material objects.
1297 Five forms means five kinds of sacrifice—agnihotra, darsha, purnamasa, chaturmasya and pashusoma. The five hymns from the Yajur Veda are ashravaya, shroushat, yaja, ye yajamahe and vashat.
1298 Human body.
1299 The person performing the sacrifice and his wife.
1300 The three Vedas.
1301 The sacrifice.
1302 Shiva.
1303 Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
1304 Presumably both means principal and secondary sacrifices.
1305 This is known as avabhritha, the purifying bath at the end of a sacrifice.
1306 Mrisha means falsehood, dambha means insolence and maya means deceit. Dambha (male) married Maya (female) and Nirriti adopted this couple.
1307 Lobha means avarice, nikriti means wickedness, krodha means anger, himsa means violence, kali means dissension and durukti means harsh speech.
1308 Bhaya means fear, mrityu means death, yatana means excessive pain and niraya means hell. Bhaya (male) married Mrityu (female).
1309 Puraka, rechaka and kumbhaka.
1310 To the cycle of birth and death.
1311 A mantra used for meditating and chanting.
1312 That is, divine and semi-divine species.
1313 Oum! namo bhagavate vasudevaya. There are twelve askharas (syllables) in this mantra.
1314 Dhruva.
1315 Dhruva.
1316 Dhruva.
1317 Brahma.
1318 Potentially, and thus create it.
1319 In general, the senses.
1320 Since the brahman is impersonal.
1321 Ananta’s.
1322 Brahma.
1323 What is intended is unclear. It could be the three Vedas, the three gunas, or past, present and future.
1324 Alternatively, the world known as Dhruva’s world. The word dhruva means eternal. Dhruva is the Pole Star.
1325 At the time of threshing.
1326 That is, it will not be destroyed when a kalpa is over.
1327 The sages are the saptarshis, the constellation of Ursa Major.
1328 Not suffering from old age.
1329 Meaning Ursa Major.
1330 Dhruva.
1331 There is no second to the omnipresent atman.
1332 Dhruva.
1333 That is stepson.
1334 This sentence is such that it can also be translated as, ‘He (also) had a daughter who was a jewel among women.’
1335 As will be clear, the auspicious person is a yaksha/guhyaka and the mountain is the Himalayas. The city is Alaka.
1336 Female yakshas. The male yakshas are referred to as minor gods.
1337 Each of them struck him with six arrows.
1338 Catapults.
1339 A lion.
1340 As will be clear, this is a suggestion that the narayanastra be used.
1341 Narayana rishi’s.
1342 Svayambhuva Manu.
1343 Or from the linga sharira.
1344 In the presence of a magnet.
1345 Such as Brahma.
1346 Anger.
1347 Shiva. Both Gireesha and Girisha are Shiva’s names. We have written both as Girisha. Gireesha means lord of the mountains, while Girisha means someone who lies down on a mountain.
1348 In the singular, meaning Kubera.
1349 Manu.
1350 The physical body.
1351 King of kings, a term used to refer to Kubera.
1352 Of ignorance.
1353 Aidavida means Idavida’s son and is Kubera’s name. Kubera’s father was the sage Vishrava and his mother was Idavida (also known as Ilavida).
1354 Dhruva.
1355 That is, not for Vishnu, but sacrifices with offerings for the gods.
1356 Dharma, artha and kama.
1357 The paramatman.
1358 Something not real.
1359 Badarikashrama.
1360 Vishnu.
1361 Madhusudana, Vishnu.
1362 Interpreted as the saptarshis.
1363 The vimana.
1364 Sunanda and Nanda.
1365 The saptarshis.
1366 Worst among kshatriyas, in this case, meaning an ordinary kshatriya.
1367 Day preceding the night of the new moon.
1368 Dvadashi.
1369 Vyatipata is an inauspicious period that lasts for almost twenty-four hours during every lunar month.
1370 More commonly known as sankranti. This is the time when the sun moves from one rashi (sign of the zodiac) to the next. There are twelve sankramanas in a year, though some are better known than others.
1371 The Prachetas.
1372 Prabha means the light of the day, dosha means night. Pratar is morning, madhyadin is midday and sayam is evening. Pradosha is late evening or the first part of the night, nishitha is midnight and vyushta is the latter part of the night, just before dawn.
1373 Sarvateja.
1374 Chakshusha Manu, after Svayambhuva Manu.
1375 Not to be confused with the earlier Pushkarini, Vyushta’s wife.
1376 Anga.
1377 Vena was killed by the curse. Prithu was born through the churning of the hand. There was no king because Vena had died without any sons.
1378 Anga.
1379 Anga.
1380 The cake is purodasa, made out of ground rice. Shipivishta is Vishnu in the form of the sacrifice, the form of the sacrificial fire, or the form of the sacrificial animal.
1381 A dish made out sweetened milk and rice.
1382 Mrityu is Death and Sunitha was Mrityu’s daughter.
1383 The root ven means someone who is jealous and harasses people.
1384 The king thought this.
1385 Compassion, forgiveness, cleanliness, lack of jealousy, altruism, lack of greed, purity and self-control.
1386 Surya.
1387 The earth.
1388 Humkara means to utter the sound ‘hum’, a sound believed to possess special powers.
1389 Interpreted as herbs and mantras.
1390 Alternatively, a man who was a dwarf. Bahuka means a dwarf, or a servile and dependent person.
1391 The word nishida means ‘sit down’. The nishadas were hunters who dwelt in mountains and forests.
1392 The male.
1393 The female.
1394 The word prithu means extensive, great, abundant.
1395 She will be Prithu’s wife.
1396 Vishnu.
1397 Brahma.
1398 On the palm.
1399 Sarasvati.
1400 This world and the next.
1401 He will collect taxes at the right time and spend them at the right time, just as the sun evaporates
water during the summer and showers it down during the monsoon.
1402 Indra.
1403 Varuna.
1404 The sacrificial fire.
1405 Mount Manasa has been identified as being near Lake Manasa. It is a mountain that is believed to be to the east of Mount Meru and the sun’s chariot uses this as an axis to revolve around.
1406 A king is known as rajan because he delights (ranjayati) the subjects.
1407 Udaya is the mountain from behind which the sun rises.
1408 He decided that the earth was hiding foodgrains, plants and herbs.
1409 One who holds up (dhara) the earth (dhara).
1410 Rudra.
1411 Specifically, Shiva’s bull, Nandi.
1412 Dattatreya.
1413 The four types of food are those that are chewed (charvya), sucked (choshya or chushya), licked (lehya) and drunk (peya).
1414 Indra.
1415 Jatayu.
1416 Indra.
1417 Someone who has conquered (vijita) a horse (ashva).
1418 Hari, the tawny one, is also one of Indra’s names.
1419 A khatvanga is a staff with a skull on top. A khatvanga and a skull are the marks of a special kind of ascetic known as kapalaka. Therefore, Prithu’s son did not obstruct him.
1420 Meaning Vijitashva.
1421 Indra.
1422 Khanda means a mark and something that is deficient.
1423 Prithu.
1424 Brahma is now speaking to Prithu.
1425 About the sacrifice not having been completed.
1426 Indra.
1427 The gods.
1428 The brahmanas said this.
1429 Prithu.
1430 Even those who cause them injury.
1431 This shloka has several nuances of interpretation.
1432 A share of the sins committed by the people.
1433 Garuda.
1434 Lakshmi.
1435 Lakshmi.
1436 Vishnu’s words are interpreted as the Vedas. If the rites of the Vedas are not important, why will anyone follow them?
1437 The city.
1438 Maitreya.
1439 The text uses the word arabdha, meaning arabdha karma, the good deeds of the past that have now matured and can bear fruits.
1440 The seven dvipas (continents) of the world are Jambu, Plaksha, Shalmali, Kusha, Krouncha, Shaka and Pushkara.
1441 Family name, denoting common lineage.
1442 Because this benefits the king in the next world.
1443 Alternatively, bodies.
1444 There must be a superior entity who dispenses the fruits of good and bad karma.
1445 Brahma.
1446 Vena.
1447 Dharma, artha and kama.