The Sanskrit Epics, page 874
456 In the Santi Parva it has been explained that in ancient times kings sometimes performed sacrifices causing altars to be raised at small distances from one another. These distances were measured by hurling a heavy piece of wood called Sami, so that throwing the Sami from one altar, the next altar would be created upon the spot where it fell.
457 i.e. if a sinful man mends his conduct, he succeeds in warding off the misery and evils to which he would otherwise be subject in consequence of his sins.
458 What is said here is this: certain persons have the ugly habit of picking up little clods of earth and pound them into dust, while sitting on the ground and engaged in talking. The habit also of tearing the grass while sitting on the ground may be marked. It should be remembered that the people of India in ancient times used often to sit on the bare ground. As to cutting off the nails with the teeth, it is an ugly habit with many young men.
459 The Brahma Muhurta is that when the sun is just below the horizon.
460 The prayers said in the morning and the evening are also spoken of as adoring the two twilights.
461 ‘One should always observe the vow of Brahmacharya’ means that one should abstain from sexual congress except with one’s wedded wives and in the proper season.
462 The Bombay text reads the second line differently. What is meant, is that the wounds inflicted by wordy shafts rankle and fester and lead to death.
463 Samyava is a thin cake of unleavened bread, fried with ghee, pounded and again made up into an oblong form with fresh bread, sugar and spices, and again fried with ghee. Krisara is a kind of liquid food made of milk, sesame, rice, sugar, and spices. Sashkuli is a kind of pie. Payasa is rice boiled in sugar and milk.
464 Antarddhane implies ‘in darkness’; hence one should always examine the bed with a light before one lies down on it.
465 Pranan, the commentator explains, implies the upper holes of the body, such as the nostrils, the ear-holes and the eyes.
466 The Brahmana is more powerful than the other two, for while the other two cannot injure except when they have their foe within sight, the Brahmana can do so even by not seeing his enemy.
467 The custom in India, with especially all orthodox Brahmanas, is to wear a single flower on the head, inserted into the coronal lock. This flower may be a red one, it is said, after the prohibition in the previous verse about the wearing of garlands made of red flowers.
468 What is stated here is that dry perfumes should not be used, but those which are pounded with water and made into a paste.
469 The cloth worn by a Hindu has two lateral fringes which contain a lesser number of threads than the body of the cloth.
470 It has been said that Hinduism is a vast system of personal hygiene. These directions about change of attire are scrupulously observed by every rigid Hindu to this day. No change seems to have taken place in the daily habits of the people.
471 Priyangu is the Aglaia Roxburghiana. Vilwa is the Egle marmelos. Tagara is the Taberuaemontana coronaria, Linn. Kesara is probably the Eclipta alba, Hassk.
472 Na is the nom. sing. of Nri, implying man.
473 One of the Vernacular translations takes valena as signifying child and para-sraddha as meaning the first or adya sraddha.
474 This noise refers to that of chewing or sucking or licking, etc. It is an ugly habit with some people.
475 Doubting, for example, as to whether he would be able to digest it or not, or whether what he is taking is clean or not, or whether it would be too much for him.
476 In offering certain articles at the Sraddha, the articles are first placed on this part of the right hand and then offered with due Mantras to the Pitris.
477 The achamana is not exactly washing, when one is directed to perform the achamana after having eaten, there it, of course, implies an act of washing. At the commencement, however, of religious acts, the rite of achamana consists in merely touching the lips and some other parts with water.
478 The Brahmana’s aid is necessary in selecting the ground, and settling the longitudinal and other directions of the house, as also in fixing the day of commencing the work of building.
479 I adopt the meaning which Nilakantha points out. According to him, this verse forbids the killing of birds at night time and their killing after having fed and adopted them. Indeed, one may buy such birds killed by others for food. The word Dwija, however, may mean both hair and nails. The first part of the line, therefore, may be taken as a prohibition against the cutting of hair and nails after eating. The words na samarcha reta, in that case, would be difficult to interpret. Probably, it is this that has led the commentator to take Dwija here for a bird. Some texts read panam for na cha.
480 Pravaras indicate the race in which one is born. They are named from the names of the Vedic Rishis.
481 The commentator explains that ayonim implies of unknown birth and viyonim of mean birth.
482 Brahmanih here refers to the rituals in the Vedas and not persons of the first order.
483 The fact is, one is directed to bathe after a shave. One is considered impure after a shave until one bathes.
484 Uddesa means, as the commentator explains, in brief.
485 The word rendered conduct in the concluding verse of this lesson is acharah. It implies not only one’s behaviour to one’s own self and others, i.e., to beings inferior, equal, and superior. The word acharah, therefore, includes the entire body of acts that one does in this life, including the very sentiments that one cherishes.
486 The flower of the cane cannot be plucked for being offered to the deities.
487 An Acharya is an ordinary instructor. He is called an Upadhyaya who teaches the Vedas. The Upadhyaya is greater than even ten Acharyas or ordinary teachers. The father, again, deserves ten times as much respect as is paid to the Upadhyaya. As regards the mother, again, the reverence due to her is greater than what is due to the father. The mother is equal to the whole earth.
488 Many of the verses of this Lesson are from Manu. The relative positions of the Acharya, the Upadhyaya, the father, and the mother, as given in verse 15, is not consistent with Manu. Verse 15 would show that the Upadhyaya was regarded as very much superior of the Acharya. In Manu, II — 140-41, he is called an Acharya who taught all the Vedas, without any remuneration. He, on the other hand, who taught a particular Veda for a living, was called an Upadhyaya. The first line of verse 19 corresponds with Manu, II — 148. The sense is that that birth which one derives from one’s parents is subject to death; while the birth derived from the preceptor is true regeneration, unfading and immortal. It is a question whether any other nation paid such respect to persons employed in teaching.
489 Kanchi is an ornament worn by ladies round the waist or hips. There is a shining disc of gold or silver, which dangles on the hip. It is commonly called Chandra-hara. The Nupura is an anklet of silver, with moving bullets placed within, so that when the wearer moves, these make an agreeable sound.
490 In verse 3, Avaguna means Nirguna; Ekatma means alone and asamhta implies without associates i.e., helpless.
491 A Padma is a very large number. Instead of rendering such words exactly, I have, in some of the preceding verses, following the sense, put down ‘millions upon millions of years.’
492 Avartanani means years. Four and twelve make sixteen, Sara is arrow. The arrows are five in number as possessed by Kama, the deity of love. The number of fires also is seven. The compound saragniparimana, therefore, implies five and thirty. Adding this to sixteen, the total comes up to one and fifty.
493 A countless number almost.
494 Here the exact number of years is not stated.
495 Some of the most beautiful ladies in Indian mythology and history have been of dark complexion. Draupadi, the queen of the Pandavas, was dark in colour and was called Krishna. As to women called Syamas, the description given is that their bodies are warm in winter and cold in summer, and their complexion is like that of heated gold.
496 A very large figure is given.
497 This sacrifice consisted of the slaughter of a human being.
498 The exact number of years is given, consisting of a fabulous figure.
499 Abhravakasasila is explained by Nilakantha as having the attribute of the Avakasa or place of Abhra or the clouds. Hence, as stainless as the ether, which, of course, is the purest of all the elements.
500 Sacrifices have for their soul either the actual rites laid down in the scriptures or fasts of several kinds. The observance of fasts is equal to the performance of sacrifices, for the merits of both are equal.
501 The word Tirtha as already explained (in the Santi Parva) means a sacred water. There can be no Tirtha without water, be it a river, a lake, or even a well. Bhishma, however, chooses to take the word in a different sense.
502 The language is figurative. By Manasa is not meant the trans-Himalayan lake of that name, which to this day is regarded as highly sacred and draws numerous pilgrims from all parts of India. The word is used to signify the Soul. It is fathomless in consequence of nobody being able to discover its origin. It is pure and stainless by nature. It is represented here as having Truth for its waters and the Understanding for its lake. Probably, what is meant by this is that the Understanding, containing the waters of Truth, forms a part of this Tirtha as the lakes of Pushkara form a part of the Tirtha called by that name.
503 Once freed from the idea of meum implies him who identifies himself with all creatures; him, that is, in whom the idea of self has been extinguished.
504 Such a man, through the merit he acquires, causes his deceased ancestors and descendants to be freed from every kind of misery in the next world.
505 In the Naramedha, a human being was offered up as the sacrifice.
506 The sense seems to be this: One that is not possessed of much learning is liable to do improper acts. These acts are all done for another, viz., one’s body and the senses and not oneself. The para here is, the Not-self.
507 Nichayam is, as explained by the commentator Avasthitim.
508 The sense is that when these leave the body, they are accompanied by Righteousness.
509 Intermediate, i.e., between deities and human beings; hence, animals and birds.
510 Brahma-Rakshasa is a Rakshasa that belongs, like Ravana and others, by birth to the regenerate order.
511 Masha is Phaseolus Roxburghii, Kulatta is Dolichos biflosus, Roxb. Kalaya is Pisum Sativum, Linn. Mudga is Phaseolus Mango, Linn. Atasi is Linum usitattisimam, Linn.
512 A Kanka is a bird of prey.
513 He is repeatedly struck with the clubs and hammers and mallets. He is frequently impaled. He is confined with fiery vessels. He is dragged with forests of sword-blades. He is made to walk over heated sand. He is rubbed against thorny Salmalis. The Salmali is the Bombox Malabaricum.
514 The commentator explains that Nishpava means Rajamasha which is a kind of bears. It is the Dolichas catjung. Halagolaka is a long-tailed worm.
515 A Krikara is a kind of partridge. It is spelt also as Krikala or Krikana. A Vartaka is a sort of quail.
516 Tailapayin is, literally, one that drinks oil. That name is applied to a cockroach.
517 Vyathitah and vyadhitah are the correct readings.
518 That day is sterile or lost in which no gift is made of food.
519 Kama and krodha are mentioned: but the use of cha gives by implication cupidity. What is meant by nidhaya sarvabhuteshu is, dividing them into infinite small parts, to cast them off from oneself to others. It is painful to see how the Burdwan translators misunderstand verses 2 and 3. They read Hanti for Hanta and write ridiculous nonsense.
520 In the first line, after Sarvabhutani, atmatwena is understood. The sense of this verse seems to be this: such a man leaves no trace behind him, for he becomes identified with Brahma. He is, therefore, said to be apada. The deities on the other hand, are padaishinah, for they desire a fixed abode such as heaven or a spot fraught with felicity.
521 The sense is that when one refuses a solicitation one should think how one would feel if another were to refuse the solicitations one addressed to that other. So with regard to the rest.
522 By committing a slaughter, one becomes guilty of it. By inciting others to it one becomes guilty. By mentally committing an act of slaughter, one becomes guilty of it.
523 i.e. by eating meat, one feels the desire for meat increasing. A taste or predilection for meat is thus created. Hence, the best course is total abstinence.
524 The sense is this: he who observes the vow of abstention from injury comes to be regarded as the giver of life-breaths in this world. The assurance given to all creatures of never injuring them on any occasion is the Dakshina or Sacrificial present of the great sacrifice that is constituted by universal compassion or abstention from injury.
525 Mansa is flesh. This verse explains the etymology of the word, Mam (me) sa; Me he eateth, therefore, I shall eat him. The words following Me he should be supplied in order to get at the meaning.
526 The sense is this: one, while endued with a human body injures another, the consequences of that injury the doer will suffer in his human body. One becomes a tiger and slays a deer. The consequences of that act one will have to endure while one becomes reborn as a tiger.
527 What the sage says is that the fact of the worm’s being able to recollect the incidents of his past life is due to some meritorious act. That meritorious act is the very sight of the sage which the worm has been fortunate to obtain.
528 The sense is that among human beings also, acts are done with the intention of securing happiness. In other words, human beings also enjoy the fruits of their good acts and endure those of their evil ones.
529 Literally, the verse runs,— ‘what is that which would forsake a creature that is destitute of etc.,’ meaning that such a creature has been already forsaken by everything. Hence, ‘the worm that is destitute of speech, etc.’ is destitute of everything. Its condition is really fraught with great misery.
530 Jugupsita smritih jata is the paraphrase.
531 Swairini-kule implies, as the commentator explains, the race of Munis. Swam (Dharamaya) irayati is the etymology. Ajnata-charitam-dharan applied to Krishna-Dwaipayana. If it be read charam it would refer to Maitreya.
532 Prithagatman implies one whose soul is still invested with upadhis; Sukhatman is one whose soul has transcended all upadhis.
533 This literal version of the verse yields no sense. The meaning, however, is this: Atichccheda or Atichcchanda implies a hyperbolic statement, Ativaua means a paradox. It is said that by gift of even a palmful of water one may attain to a place which is attainable by a hundred sacrifices. This ordinance, which looks like a hyperbole, and its statement by Vedic teachers that looks like a paradox, fill me with wonder. The Vedas say that no one attains to such a place without a hundred sacrifices. This seems to be untrue, for people do reach it by making even slight gifts to deserving persons at proper times.
534 The sense is that those who pursue carnal pleasures meet with misery as the end, and those who practise austerities meet with felicity as their reward.
535 To obtain a sight of thee is the reward or result of my own acts. A sight of thy person leads to prosperity, through the kindness thou cherishest for us.
536 The sense is that an ascetic observant of penances, in whatever stage, and a man possessed of omniscience, are regarded as equal.
537 Such an object can never be accomplished. Hence thy paleness and leanness.
538 Though completely innocent, thou hast yet been cursed. The anxiety due to this has made thee so.
539 Yamena praptam is the sense, as explained by the commentator.
540 The sense is this: one should not accept gifts made by a butcher or slayer of animals. Ten butchers are equal to a single oilman. By accepting a gift from an oilman, therefore, one incurs ten times as much sin as by accepting a gift from a butcher. In this way, the measure of sin goes on increasing according to the ratio given. A Nripa, as explained by the commentator, means here a small chief. A small king is equal to ten thousand butchers. A great king, however, is equal to half of that, i.e., five thousand butchers. In other words, by accepting a gift from a great king, a man incurs as much sin as is a full five thousand times of the sin which is incurred by accepting a gift from a butcher.
541 The reason is the declarations in the scriptures to that effect.
542 The sense, as explained by the commentator, is this: the Brahmana who becomes the Ritwik and eats at a Sraddha becomes a Pitri of the person performing the Sraddha. Hence, when his identity has been changed, he should, on that day, abstain from sexual congress with even his own spouse. By indulging in such congress, he incurs the sin of adultery.
543 Batakashaya is explained by the commentator as substance that is named by pounding the hanging roots of the banian. The Priyangu here mentioned is not the Aglaia Roxburghiana but the seed called Rajasarshapa, i.e., Brassica juncea; Sinapis ramasa, Roxb. The Shashtika paddy is that which ripens in sixty days.
544 The sense seems to be that the libations, few and far between, of men who do not daily worship their fire are not borne by the fire to the destined places.
545 Kshirapah means those that depend on the lacteal sustenance, hence, little children.
546 Aurddhsadehikam danam means gifts made in course of Sraddhas and other rites that are observed for improving the position of a deceased person.
547 What is meant by the gift of lamps is the lighting of lamps in the sky. These are placed on long poles which are fastened to the tallest trees.
