The Sanskrit Epics

by Delphi Classics

  281 The Bengal reading yathagantam is preferable to the Bombay reading yatha mama.

  282 The first line of 27 is grammatically connected with the last line of 26. The second line of 27 is very abstruse. The grammatical construction is this: tayorbhavayogamanam (sushuptau) pratyaksham (drishtam); (tadeva) nityam, ipsitam (cha). What is meant by this is that in ordinary men, the notions during wakefulness are not the notions they cherish during dreams: nor are their notions during dreams identifiable with those they entertain while wakeful. There is similarity but not identity. In eternal Sushupti, however, which is Emancipation, the notions of wakefulness pass into those of dream and those of dream pass into those of wakefulness, i.e., both (or, rather, the same, for there is then perfect identity between them) become directly apprehensible in Sushupti or Emancipation. Sushupti or Emancipation, therefore, is a state, in which there is neither the consciousness of wakefulness nor that of dream, but both run together, their differences disappearing totally.

  283 This is a triplet.

  284 Brahmabhava is explained as follows: when one succeeds in understanding Brahma, one is said to attain to Brahma, as the Srutis declare. The commentator explains that Pasyanti is used with reference to those that are learned in the scriptures. They behold the attainment of the highest end by Jiva not with their physical eyes but with the eye of the scriptures, for they that are themselves emancipated cannot be said to behold the emancipation of another. This is grave trifling for explaining the use of the word pasyanti.

  285 The commentator points out that possessions of value include even the region of Brahman. Men of knowledge, who seek Emancipation, do not set any value on even the joy of the region of the Creator.

  286 The commentator explains that one should not cherish the desire for wealth even for the sake of acquiring virtue therewith. When, however, wealth is obtained without effort, such wealth should be applied to the acquisition of virtue. One is also directed to give up the desire of acquiring wealth (by even innocent means) the reason being that desire, when cherished, is sure to increase and get the better of one’s heart.

  287 The commentator observes that the first line means that the man of knowledge should wish for happiness to all, and never wish sorrow to any one. Sarvam includes virtue and vice. Of course, the practice of nishkama dharma is recommended.

  288 All Brahmanas have to pluck flowers in the morning for offering them to the deities they worship. The task takes many minutes, because a good many have to be plucked for the purpose. This being a daily occupation and they going as they do to places where flowers abound, the act of plucking goes on while the plucker is mentally engaged with other things.

  289 The Bengal reading sputam vyaghro mrigamiva, etc. is preferable to the Bombay reading sputam vyaghram mahaughova. If the Bombay reading be accepted, the meaning would be ‘Him Death snatches away as a mighty wave sweeps away a sleeping tiger.’ The idea of a sleeping tiger being swept away by a surging wave is very unfamiliar.

  290 Devas here evidently refer to the senses. The senses are, as it were, cattle. Their true fold is the forest and not peopled cities and towns. In the forest there are no temptations to try them as in the midst of cities and towns.

  291 Jivitarthapanayenaih is connected with hinsati. To take it (as the Burdwan translator does) as an adjective qualifying ‘pranibhih’ would be incorrect.

  292 The Sacrifice of Peace is opposed to the Sacrifice of Slaughter. The Sacrifice of Brahma is Yoga which leads to a knowledge of the Soul. The Sacrifice of Speech is Vedic recitation or Japa. The Sacrifice of Mind is contemplation, and that of Acts is baths, performance of other acts of purity, waiting dutifully upon the preceptor, etc.

  293 To perform the Sacrifice of Self is to merge the Soul in the Supreme Soul.

  294 The Bombay reading danda-vidhanam is a blunder for the Bengal reading danda nidhanam. To interpret vidhanam as equivalent to abandonment or giving up, by taking the prefix vi, in the sense of vigata would be an act of violence to the word.

  295 The guha or cave referred to is the body.

  296 By Prakriti, as explained in previous Sections, is meant primal nature consisting of the five great essences of earth, water, etc.

  297 Samupodeshu is explained as upasthiteshu api, i.e., even when such objects are present and ready for enjoyment.

  298 Maitrayangatah, as explained by the commentator, is Suryavat-pratyaha-vibhinna-margah, i.e., roving like the Sun every day in a different path. The object of the speaker is to lay it down that one solicitous of Emancipation should never confine oneself to one spot, but rove or wander over the world without owning a fixed habitation or home. K.P. Singha translates the word wrongly.

  299 In the first line, the Bengal reading madhya na chacharet is better than madhya cha nacharet. Pradakshinam is ankulam, and savyam is pratikulam. The grammar of the second line is not difficult. Besides, the commentator explains it clearly. The Burdwan translator, leaving out the words bhaikshacharyam and taking anapannah as equivalent to vipadapannah, gives a thoroughly ridiculous version. K.P. Singha, also, is not correct. The commentator explains that charyam means anekagrihatanam; anapannam is akurvan. The second foot is unconnected with the first.

  300 Muni, here, is one who has restrained his senses, or who has betaken himself to the path of Renunciation. Patrasamchara, I think, is the act of setting the dishes for those who are to dine off them. The commentator explains that it means ‘the motion of those who are to distribute the food.’ Of course, their motions from the kitchen to the dining hall and back are implied if the word is taken for ‘setting of dishes.’ The sense remains unaltered. The Muni must be abstemious and hence he should select an hour like this for begging his dole, when there would be very little in the house to give.

  301 Matra is a technical word signifying the taking of food to the extent of only gratification of hunger, or, as explained by Chakrapani Datta in his commentary on Charaka, triptimatram. When matra is to be disregarded, clothes, etc., need not be mentioned. Vihanyeta is equivalent to hinsito na syat.

  302 The second line is passed over by K.P. Singha. What is meant by it is that when such a man is respectfully presented with anything, he should hold it in reprobation. Vide the Sanatsujatiya Sections in Udyoga Parva, particularly the verses beginning with Yatra akathayamanasya, etc.

  303 The second line is skipped over by K.P. Singha. The Burdwan translator gives a wrong version. The commentator explains that anyam refers to paisachim, and anyatra to atmani. In the Sanatsujatiya Sections also, a Brahmana’s practices are directed to be concealed. ‘To enter his own Self’ is to turn self on Self, i.e., to withdraw oneself from everything for understanding and contemplating the Soul.

  304 By totally abstaining from acts he should avoid both merit and demerit.

  305 This is a triplet. The Burdwan translator misses the meaning of the first half of the first line. The commentator explains that abhayastam is continuous; bhautikam is tattwajatam, atmanodehendriyadi. Hence, bhutanam means anyesham bhutanam.

  306 To think beforehand of the food one is to take is to convert oneself into gourmand. The Sannyasin, without thinking of the food he would take, and without mentally indulging in a foretaste thereof should take what he gets without exertion.

  307 Sanjnakam from the root jna meaning marana or killing.

  308 The two negatives in the first line are equivalent to an affirmative. Prasangatah is explained by the commentator in a slightly different way. Affluence, in consequence of the attachment it generates, stands in the way of Emancipation. Hence, i.e., in consequence of this consideration, the king’s opinion regarding affluence, is correct. With respect to the certainty of attaining to Emancipation, compare Gita, Vahunam janmanamante jnanavan mam prapadyate, etc.

  309 The object of this verse, as explained by the commentator, is to exhort Yudhishthira to strive after Emancipation without being at all moved by his happiness or misery which (as stated here) come to Jiva as accidents.

  310 The wind
has space for its progenitor. Jiva has the stainless and immutable Chit for his progenitor. Like the wind, which is hueless, catching hues from surrounding objects and making its own hueless progenitor look as if it has hues, Jiva also, though in reality stainless, catches stains from Ignorance and Acts and makes his own progenitor, the stainless and immutable Chit, display stains of every kind. This is how the commentator puts the simile, supplying the points that have been omitted in the text.

  311 These aphorisms are very abstruse. What is meant by saying that the attainment of Brahma does not depend upon Acts is this: Acts are terminable. Their consequences also are terminable. Acts, therefore, can never be the means by which Brahma can be attained, for Brahma is interminable and eternal, not like the felicity of heaven which is changeful. The only means by which Jiva may revert to Brahma is by dispelling Ignorance through Knowledge; or, as the Upanishads declare, one attains to it as one gets one’s forgotten necklace of gold, which all the while is on the neck though sought for with assiduity everywhere. K.P. Singha misunderstands it completely. What is meant by the direction about reverencing persons who have attained to Brahma is this: the existence of Brahma and the possibility of Jiva’s reverting to that Immutable status are matters that depend upon the conception of such men. Brahma, again, is so difficult to keep, that the great sages never desist for a moment from the culture that is necessary for its retention.

  312 Intermediate i.e., as animals and birds and reptiles and worms, etc.

  313 i.e., if righteous, one attains to happiness; if otherwise, to the reverse.

  314 Verse 21 and the first line of 22 are grammatically connected.

  315 Me in the second line is equivalent to Maya. Tatah is tatra yuddhakale. Hari had come to aid Indra, and hence Vritra had beheld him. He is called Hari because he takes away one’s sins. Besides the well-known derivation of the word Narayana, the commentator here offers another, viz., the ayanam or layasthanam of Nara or Jivasangha.

  316 Vaikuntha has various etymologies. The commentator inclines to explain it as ‘one who brings together all creatures.’ Purusha is full; as applied to Narayana, it, of course, means one who has no defect but who is the sole representative of fullness. Sukla or Suddha or pure. Vishnu is all-pervading. Sanatan is kutastha or uniform or immutable. Munjakesa, is possessed of yellow hair, or hair of the hue of Munja grass. Harismasru is having a tawny beard.

  317 Penances are meritorious. The very sight of Hari that I obtain was as efficacious as a course of the austerest penances. Of course, in consequence of that and my other penances great have been the rewards that I have enjoyed. It seems, however, that the full measure of rewards has not been reaped; the remnant is to be enjoyed by me now, for I am about to ask thee about the fruits of acts. Sacred and highly auspicious is my enquiry. To make it is, in itself, a reward.

  318 Vaya acts are, of course, sacrifices and other religious acts; by abhyantara acts are meant santi, danti, uparati, titiksha, and samadhi, i.e., the usual course of mental training necessary for Yoga. What the speaker intends to lay down in this verse is that sacrifices are not entirely useless. These may lead to chitta-suddhi or the cleansing of the heart, which, when attained, leads to knowledge of Him or the Soul or to Emancipation or Infinity.

  319 The comparison lies in the fact of the desirability of the two acts. No one likes the stains the body may catch to remain unwashed or unwiped off. Similarly, no one should neglect to wash off the faults that the heart may catch. There is no comparison between the two acts with regard to the degree of effort necessary to accomplish each.

  320 ‘Efforts born of practice’ refer to both external and internal Sadhana.

  321 Karmaviseshan is explained by the commentator as equivalent to ragaviraga-hetun.

  322 Sampravartante and tishthanti are thus explained by the commentator.

  323 In the previous verses the speaker describes the training that one should undergo. In this and the following ones, he speaks of the object to be known. Sreeman is explained as asriyate iti srih, i.e., upadhih, tadvan. Hari is Sambharata. Narayana is saravasrayah. Prabhu is sarvaniyanta. Deva is dyotate-iti i.e., Chinmatrah. These etymologies must be grasped for understanding this verse.

  324 The ‘mutable’ in all creatures is the combination of the five primal essences. The ‘immutable’ in them is Jiva, or Chit as invested with ignorance. The eleven modifications that constitute. His essence are the eleven senses of knowledge and action with the mind. Equipped with these eleven. He drinketh the universe, i.e., enjoys it. The rays are these senses themselves. Equipped with the senses. He enjoys the universe with the senses.

  325 ‘His mind is in the Moon.’ i.e., His mind is the Moon. The expression ‘waters in the Ganges,’ implies a distinction that does not exist between container and contained, for ‘Ganges,’ means the water so named.

  326 The sandhi between sa and acramanam is arsha.

  327 Dharma has various meanings all of which, however, are closely created with one another. As duty, or the assemblage of all acts which we should do, it is both Righteousness and Religion.

  328 The Sacrificial grahas or patras (vessels) are called after the names of the deities Indra, Vayu, Soma, etc. The sixteen Ritwijes are Brahman, Hotri, Adhyaryu, Udgatri, etc.

  329 Verse 21 to 23 show the unity of the Divine Being. The variety perceived is only apparent, not real.

  330 Verse 31 and 32 are not difficult; yet the Burdwan translator makes nonsense of the same.

  331 This is elaborated in the Vishnu Purana, Part I, Sec. V. There are three primary creations, viz., Mahat, the five primal essences in their subtile forms and the senses. From the Six colours again six other creations have sprung. To the Dark colour is due all immobile creatures; to the Tawny all the intermediate order of creatures (viz., the lower animals and birds, etc.); to the Blue are due human beings, to the Red the Prajapatyas; to the Yellow the deities; and to the White are due the Kumara, i.e., Sanatkumara and others.

  332 Emancipation is so difficult.

  333 The construction of the first line is this: subham darsanam (auspicious scriptures) gatwa (prapya) Devah yam gatim (identical with) darsanam (atmanubhavatmikam) aha, Gati is naturally dependent on Varna, and Varna upon ‘Time or acts.’

  334 There are ten senses of knowledge and action. To this must be added Manas, Buddhi, Ahankara and Chitta, which are sometimes called the four Karanas. In consequence of these fourteen, fourteen different kinds or merit and demerit may be achieved by Jiva who is their possessor. These fourteen kinds of merit and demerit also, are subdivided into hundreds of thousands each. Jiva, in course of his wanderings through the universe, ascends in the scale of Being, stays in particular rungs, and falls down from them into lower rungs, accordingly, What the speaker wishes to inculcate is that these fourteen should always be towards the attribute of Sattwa or Goodness.

  335 This life, it should be noted, leadeth to Jiva’s transformation as an immobile object. A creature of Dark hue becomes addicted to wicked acts and rots in hell His existence as an immobile object is hell itself.

  336 Prajavisargah is the period for which one Creation lasts, being equal to what is called a Kalpa.

  337 The Dark and the Tawny hues of their corresponding states of existence, viz., the immobile and the intermediate, are regarded as states of endurance. Hence, when the misery that is their portion has been fully endured, the recollection is suddenly irradiated into the mind, of the righteousness that distinguished Jiva in ages far remote. Anisa is helpless or cheerless.

  338 Cha at the end of the second line is equivalent to va. Unless cha be taken as equivalent to va the verse would yield no meaning. After Tawny comes Blue, i.e., after attainment of existence as an Intermediate creature Jiva attains to humanity. This occurs when Sattwa does not predominate. Hence anyatha should be supplied after upaiti.

  339 Vyatite is a finite verb in indicative mood, as pointed out by the commentator. It comes from root i with suffix vi. After sate supply jate sati. The Burdwa
n translator takes it as a participial adjective in the locative singular, which is, of course, wrong. The version he gives of this line is most ridiculous, containing as it does a self-contradictory assertion. K. P. Singha gives the right meaning.

  340 When Jiva becomes a Deva, he has still the ten senses, the five Pranas, and the four internal possessions of mind, understanding, Chitta, and Ahankara, amounting in all to nineteen. These nineteen impel him to thousands of acts. Hence, even when transformed into Deva, Jiva is not freed from acts, but is in niraya or hell, — acts being, under all circumstances, equivalent to hell.

  341 Vyuha implies the varied forms of one and the same thing Daivani in Sattwa-pradhanani. The five senses, with the mind, the understanding form a total of seven. The acts achieved through each of these may be subdivided a hundredfold. As these seven possessions adhere to Jiva till he becomes emancipated, he acts through these seven in a variety of ways, Relying, therefore, upon these seven hundred kinds of acts (which are but varied forms of one and the same thing, viz., Action), Jiva successively becomes Red and Yellow and White. Arrived at White, he courses through certain highly effulgent regions which are superior to the region of Brahman himself, and which leave behind or beneath them the Eight Puris (by which, perhaps, is meant the puri of Indra, that of Varuna, etc., or, Kasi, Mathura, Maya, etc., or symbolical stages of progress, which are fraught with great felicity). Those highly effulgent and adorable regions are obtainable by Knowledge alone or the fruit of Yoga.

  342 This is an exceedingly abstruse verse. The Burdwan version, in which unconnected bits of the commentary have been jumbled together, is utter nonsense. K.P. Singha skips over nearly the whole verse. The Eight puris referred to in the previous verse are here stated to be identical with the Sixty well-known incidents of even Sukla or White existence. This tale of Sixty is arrived at in this way: 1st, the state of wakefulness; 2nd, the gross body made up of the five primal essences; 3rd, the five attributes of sound, scent, form, taste, and touch; these come up to seven. Then come the ten senses of action and knowledge; the five breaths; mind, understanding, consciousness, and chitta: these form 19. Then come Avidya, Kama, and Karma. With Soul or the Beholder, the sum comes up to 30. The number becomes doubled when the state of Dream is taken into consideration, for like Wakefulness existing with the 29, Dream also exists with the 29. With those that are effulgent, i.e., with Beings that are Sukla or White, these 60 are simply mano-viruddhani or manomatrani eva. Unlike other Beings in lower spheres of existence, they that are effulgent or Sukla do not regard the states of Wakefulness and Dream as different but as the same. Hence, the para gati of such Beings is a state of existence that transcends both Wakefulness and Dream, and transcends Dreamless slumber also (for in Dreamless slumber the 30 exist suspended, to be revived with the return of wakefulness), and is identical with the fourth state called Turiya.