Mahabharata: Volume 8
Page 78
811 A reference to the king employing men as spies.
812 The outside and inside can be interpreted in geographical terms. It can also be interpreted in terms of those who are close to the king and those who are not.
813 Alternatively, what are my addictions?
814 The bharunda bird is a mythical predatory bird with two heads. If the king isn’t careful, others will descend on him, like this predatory bird.
Chapter 1419(91)
815 Utathya was Brihaspati’s elder brother.
816 He goes to heaven.
817 This world and the next.
818 This is a reference to the sages creating Prithu.
819 Virajate means to shine or appear beautiful and rajan is king.
820 Vrishala means a contemptible person. Vrisha means a bull, as well as moral merit. Alam means ‘enough’. A person who says enough of dharma, is a vrishala.
821 Brahma.
822 This is an inconsistency, because the words are being spoken to Mandhata, not Yudhishthira. Bharata and the Pandavas are from the lunar dynasty. Mandhata was from the solar dynasty. There was a lesser known Bharata in the solar dynasty, but he came after Mandhata.
823 Bali was an asura and was Virochana’s son. He was deprived of the three worlds by Vishnu in his vamana (dwarf) incarnation. There are no stories to suggest that Bali was wicked or resentful towards brahmanas. Vishnu restored the three worlds to Indra, who had been deprived by Bali.
824 Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity.
825 Indra killed a demon named Paka.
826 Bali.
827 Insolence.
828 Probably in the sense of intoxicated with insolence.
829 The word used is kanya, meaning girl, as well as virgin. Girl seems to fit better.
830 Mixing of the varnas.
Chapter 1420(92)
831 The careless king.
832 So that the weak could be protected.
833 The word used is tata.
834 One has to wait for a cow to have a calf, before it can be milked.
835 Descend on the king.
836 The king is being compared to the tree and the royal officers to those who have made homes in the tree.
837 In the sense of strife and discord.
838 Indra.
839 As ministers and advisers.
840 This is again an inconsistency.
Chapter 1421(93)
841 Vasumana.
842 Dharma and artha respectively.
843 That is, he must want more of these.
Chapter 1422(94)
844 The king’s officers.
845 The king.
846 That is, they do nothing to mitigate it.
847 The ministers and advisers.
Chapter 1424(96)
848 Because they are not kshatriyas.
849 Of protecting them.
850 The invader.
851 Referring to weapons.
852 With poison.
853 The cow has to have a calf before it yields milk.
Chapter 1425(97)
854 In the house of the captor.
855 This is a difficult shloka to translate. The idea seems to be that property seized from those in the enemy’s kingdom must be resorted to the original owners.
856 The people in the country that has been invaded.
857 On the king.
858 This abuse refers to deceit and a fight through unfair means. The injunction against killing thus applies to an unfair fight. Alternatively, it may refer to torturing an enemy who has been captured.
859 This is a difficult shloka to translate. It could conceivably apply to the enemy who has been captured.
860 The king of Kashi.
861 That is, King Pratardana took what should be taken, but King Divodasa took what should not be taken.
Chapter 1426(98)
862 In the battle.
863 The straight translation does not capture the nuance. The word used is katagni and is a method of execution used against criminals. Dry grass and straw are tied around the criminal and he is then burnt.
864 If the kshatriya dies in his bed.
Chapter 1427(99)
865 The word used is tata.
866 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 Atharva Veda). A ritvija is an officiating priest in general. A sadasya is an assistant priest or a spectator.
867 When the kindling is piled up in the form of a hawk (shyena).
868 A kind of acacia.
869 Secondary oblations.
870 The exclamation vashat when oblations are made.
871 There is an imagery of a river.
872 Of the river.
873 Of the enemy.
874 As part of funeral rites.
875 There is a typo in the critical edition. It reads balam, which makes no sense. It should read baalam.
876 Symbolically, the person pretends to be a cow, as a token of unconditional surrender.
877 Signifying surrender.
878 The danavas.
Chapter 1428(100)
879 The king of Kashi.
880 The king.
881 The king.
Chapter 1429(101)
882 This is in the context of a battle and the difference between the four types of dharma is unclear. Conceivably, truth means the dharma of kshatriyas, reason is persuading soldiers to give up their lives, virtuous conduct is encouraging those who are ready to fight and implementation is punishing those who are not ready to fight.
883 Respectively, April–May or November–December.
884 The seven rishis, the constellation of Ursa Major. This means that the army will face southwards.
885 Venus. The sense probably is that these should be to the rear of the army.
886 The shloka in the text is brief and states that each is superior to the succeeding one. We have expanded it, so that the meaning becomes clear.
887 The tithi is the lunar day and the nakshatras must be auspicious.
888 That is, those who have cast aside their weapons and are meditating and fasting to death on the field of battle, ready to give up their lives.
889 They are non-combatants.
890 Gone outside the camp to collect forage or fodder.
891 They are gatekeepers rather than soldiers.
892 They are servants rather than soldiers.
893 In the ranks of the enemy.
894 In one’s own ranks.
895 It is not clear where the pledge ends, but this is as good a place as any.
896 The pledge begins again.
897 Literally, the mouth of a needle.
898 The king or the leader.
899 Kind of musical instrument.
Chapter 1430(102)
900 Alternatively, young camels.
Chapter 1431(103)
901 The sacrificial fire.
902 Chariots, cavalry, elephants and infantry.
903 A reference to the herd mentality.
904 Enemy soldiers.
905 The one who has been killed. The king is speaking to the ones who are around.
906 The ones on his side who have done the killing.
Chapter 1432(104)
907 Brihaspati.
908 The defeat.
909 The victor’s army.
910 This is now a reference to the conquering king.
911 Such as an incipient rebellion.
912 Of the enemy.
913 Probably a reference to poisonous substances.
914 As a sign of truce, clothing, especially headdresses, was often exchanged.
915 Excesses of mildness and chastisement.
916 Have consultations with only one person.
917 Against an enemy who can be seen, the four kinds of forces in the army should be employed. In this context, since the enemy is invisible or f
ar away, brahmadanda can be interpreted as a dependence on destiny. Alternatively, it can be interpreted as resort to rites, sacrifices and mantras.
918 Silencing the enemy through conciliation.
919 The king.
920 One has added machines or implements of war to the standard four divisions. The sixth is either the treasury or the supplies.
921 In a situation where the enemy is weaker.
922 Mixing poison in waterbodies.
923 The enemy.
924 Presumably the conquered leaders.
925 The text uses the word ratishastra, texts of love. This is probably a typo and should be atishastra, referring to those who are extremely learned in the sacred texts.
926 A complaint about the food.
Chapter 1433(105)
927 Though the kingdom has gone, Kshemadarshi still hopes to get it back.
928 In the sense that they are temporary.
929 Some abandon the pursuit of riches to start off with. Others abandon the pursuit after realizing that these are transient.
930 The text uses the word kapalin, which means a mendicant who carries a skull around and begs for a living.
Chapter 1434(106)
931 The enemy means King Janaka of Videha.
932 The fruit of the wood-apple tree.
933 These are examples of the kinds of things that should be said.
934 The vices are adharma and the sacrifices are dharma, but both deplete the treasury.
935 A sacrifice that conquers the universe. It is a sacrifice in which one gives away all one’s possessions.
Chapter 1435(107)
936 The word used is tata.
937 Lack of valour and lack of intelligence.
938 The word used is tata.
939 Respectively, padya, arghya and madhuparka, offered to a guest.
Chapter 1436(108)
940 Of the kingdom.
941 The word gana has multiple meanings. In this context, it clearly means a small assembly or body. Beyond this, the context makes it difficult to pin it down. It could either mean an aristocracy around the king, or it could mean smaller countries that were like federations, ruled by an aristocracy, without a king.
942 Different components of the gana.
943 Clans.
944 The members of the gana.
Chapter 1437(109)
945 With the mother, the father and the preceptor, the number is three. It is not evident which of the four ashramas is being excluded, probably sannyasa.
946 The garhapatya fire is the one that burns in the household, the dakshina fire is the one that burns in the southern direction and the ahavaniya fire is the sacrificial fire into which oblations are poured.
947 Preceptor. A preceptor who is an upadhyaya is superior to a preceptor who is an acharya. Etymologically, an acharya teaches only good conduct, while an upadhyaya’s teachings are more spiritual.
948 There is no conflict, because Bhishma is referring to general views, as well as to his own.
949 This is not a reference to an ordinary individual killing the parents. It is more a reference to the king imposing punishment on the king’s parents.
950 A reference to a preceptor.
Chapter 1438(110)
951 The Balaka story has been recounted in Section 73 (Volume 7). The hunter Balaka killed a blind beast that was causing injury. The Koushika story has also been recounted in Section 73 (Volume 7). An ascetic named Koushika spoke the truth and caused great harm. There were robbers who pursued some people, desiring their riches, and Koushika told the robbers where those people were hidden.
952 From the etymological root for holding up, dhri.
953 A reference to the Koushika story.
954 This shloka breaks the continuity in the argument about not speaking the truth. The argument resumes after this shloka.
955 Examples of deceit.
Chapter 1439(111)
956 We have deliberately not translated the word madhu. The text uses a general word for liquor, madya, and madhu is mentioned in addition. Madhu could be honey, fermented or otherwise. It could also be a specific kind of liquor, such as madhvi.
957 Krishna was a cousin by birth. He was also linked through matrimonial alliances.
958 Arjuna’s.
959 Vaikuntha is Vishnu’s name, as well as the name of his abode.
Chapter 1440(112)
960 The jackal.
961 Enter the group of wicked advisers.
962 The jackal’s.
963 The jackal.
964 The jackal.
965 Praya, practised when one has had enough of life and wishes to fast to death.
966 These shlokas are cryptic and some liberty has been taken.
Chapter 1441(113)
967 Brahma.
968 The camel.
Chapter 1442(114)
969 The demons reside in the ocean.
970 Smaller plants.
Chapter 1443(115)
971 The one who is abusing him.
972 A waterhen.
973 A reflection on parentage, bastard. In general, a shameless person.
974 Literally, the text says five fingers.
Chapter 1444(116)
975 Vidura.
976 The story of these two sages has been recounted earlier.
Chapter 1445(117)
977 This is inaccurate, but there is nothing else one can do. The word used is padmi (padmini for female elephants). These are elephants with the marks of lotuses on their bodies.
978 The dog that had become an elephant.
979 The lion.
Chapter 1446(118)
980 Mystical exclamation before a mantra.
981 Dharma, artha and kama.
982 The moon.
983 This must be a reference to the organs of sense and action, often referred to as gates.
Chapter 1447(119)
984 Outside the court.
Chapter 1448(120)
985 There is an implicit image of a peacock passing through waterfalls and avoiding rain and hail.
986 The implicit image of a peacock again.
987 The peacock image again.
988 The enemy’s.
989 The peacock’s plumage complements the flowers in the forest. The imagery is a bit stretched, but the king must act in this way.
990 The image is of a peacock seeking out shade in the mountains.
991 Like a peacock digging up the ground where there are snares.
992 The peacock kills poisonous snakes.
993 The king.
994 The Critical edition uses the word baala, instead of bala, and there is a typo.
995 The insects again bring up the imagery of the peacock.
996 The sense probably is that even if the king is angered, he will quickly cool down.
997 That is, they are not directly employed in the court.
998 Protecting the cows.
999 A bee.
1000 One’s own strength increases, while that of the enemy declines.
1001 Good deeds performed in earlier lives. Therefore, they may be prosperous.
1002 By implication, as advisers or ministers.
1003 Since qualities are mentioned twice, the first may be qualities in battle, while the second is qualities in general.
1004 In the sense of impediments.
1005 This is probably a reference to adjucating a dispute between two people who have formerly been friends. The meaning isn’t very clear.
Chapter 1449(121)
1006 The word used is ishvara and subsequent sections suggest that Brahma is meant.
1007 Before and after an act of chastisement.
1008 While vyavahara means conduct or behaviour, it also means a lawsuit and judicial procedure.
1009 Brahma’s words were the earliest, because they came before Manu’s.
1010 Dharma, artha and kama.
1011 A lion.
1012 Sword.
101
3 A sabre or crooked sword.
1014 Fierce in progress.
1015 Irresistible.
1016 The womb of prosperity.
1017 Victory.
1018 The ruler.
1019 The guardian who remains awake.
1020 Sacred text or command.
1021 This is repeated.
1022 The one who returns to the earliest words.
1023 The protector of dharma.
1024 The one without decay.
1025 God, alternatively, the shining one.
1026 The one who follows truth.
1027 The one who is always present.
1028 The one who seizes.
1029 The one without attachment.
1030 The son of Rudra.
1031 The eldest Manu.
1032 The performer of what is auspicious.
1033 Good policy personified.
1034 The mother of the universe.
1035 The oblations offered at sacrifices are given to Indra.
1036 Essence, strength.
1037 Prosperity, power.
1038 The soul in all beings.
1039 Living being.
1040 The king.
1041 The kingdom is being compared to the physical body. The seven ingredients are the king, his allies, advisers, the country, the fortified cities, the treasury and the army. To these seven ingredients, the rod of chastisement is being added to account for eight limbs.
1042 Brahma.
1043 A hierarchy of judgement and judicial process is indicated. The primary one is what is laid down in the Vedas, the secondary flows from other sacred texts and the tertiary is from the exercise of the king’s powers.