Mahabharata: Volume 4
Page 62
21 The word used is jati and we have translated it as race, rather than caste.
22 Though not explicitly mentioned, this ends Indra’s quote.
23 Dhritarashtra’s mother was Ambika.
24 The word used is tata.
25 The word used is tata.
26 This refers to a king.
27 Referring to a king.
28 Angara is charcoal and a burner of charcoal (angarakaraka) is a common image for someone who ruins himself.
29 The king.
30 Shila is an ear of corn and one who lives off them is one without a regular occupation. He sustains himself by gathering these wherever he can find them.
31 Because clouds bring rain.
32 A liberty has been taken with the text here, which uses the word kuchelata. This translates as bad (ku), garment (chelata), and makes no sense. There could be a typo, and might actually be suchelata, translated as good garment. However, non-Critical versions also have ku. So this might be derived from the female breast (kucha) and kuchelata might be a garment used to cover the female breast. Hence, we have used the word bodice.
33 The senses.
34 The senses.
35 Of slanderous speech.
36 The critical edition excises some shlokas, leading to abruptness. A svayamvara was arranged for Keshini and Virochana, a descendant of Diti or a daitya, arrived there. Diti was married to Prajapati Kashyapa. Sudhanva, a brahmana, was a competing suitor. Virochana was Prahlada’s son.
37 After Sudhanva arrived in the morning, Virochana invited him to share his seat.
38 A respectful offering made to guests or bridegrooms, consisting of honey and curds.
39 When the husband is with another woman.
40 The sense is that five ancestors are destroyed in heaven, or five descendants barred from heaven, and so on.
41 Virochana’s life.
42 The word used is samudrika. This means a palmist, as well as someone who tells fortune by considering the signs on the body.
43 Alternatively, a dancer.
44 Alternatively, a bastard.
45 The word used is tata.
46 The sense being that one cannot work during the four months of the monsoon.
47 Passing beyond this life.
48 Once they are lost.
49 Atreya, the son of the sage Atri.
50 The enemy.
51 Syandana is both a tree and a term for a chariot. A chariot was so named because its wheels were made from the syandana tree.
52 The five senses and the mind.
53 Yudhishthira.
54 Yoga has several meanings. It also means obtaining that which one does not possess, while kshema means protecting that which one already possesses.
55 The word used is tata.
56 Each manvantara (era) is presided over by a sovereign known as Manu. It is because humans are descended from Manu that they are known as manava. There are fourteen manvantaras and fourteen Manus to preside over them. The present manvantara is the seventh and the Manu who presides over this is known as Vaivasvata, because he was born from the sun (Vivasvat). Svayambhuva Manu was the first Manu and he is thus named because he created himself.
57 Meaning, another man’s wife.
58 Signifying something that is impossible.
59 The word used is maya.
60 After the ancestors, the gods and the guests have eaten.
61 Dhritarashtra was Vichitravirya’s son and Pratipa was an earlier ancestor.
62 Arya.
63 The servant should be regarded as the master’s own self.
64 The text isn’t very clear and some liberties have been taken. The suggestion seems to be that one shouldn’t have lending and borrowing transactions with these.
65 A wise person has no use for these.
66 The fire.
67 The word used is tata.
68 There is an imagery of the life force rising up when someone senior arrives. When one has stood up to greet the senior and has seated oneself subsequently, the life force settles down again.
69 One who makes a living by selling knowledge.
70 That is, they must not be sold by brahmanas.
71 Of the kingdom. There is an abruptness to the text here. The reference is to the six royal expedients of peace, war, marching, halting, seeking shelter and duplicity.
72 Of the king.
73 The umbrella held above a king’s head as a sign of royalty.
74 Roots used as medicines.
75 One who is low or inferior.
76 The word used is tata.
77 The word used is tata.
78 Meaning a hunter whose hands have been smeared with blood.
79 The prosperous relative’s demerits are passed on to the relative who is oppressed.
80 This is a reference to Parashurama, who was descended from Bhrigu. Parashurama killed his mother and also destroyed the kshatriyas.
81 The word used is tata.
82 Remnants of life.
83 To poison.
84 Shrotriya.
85 This is clearly a reference to Manu Smriti, ascribed to Svayambhuva Manu. Manu Smriti is the most important of the Dharmashastra texts.
86 The word used is udumbara. This has different meanings, including the name of a tree and its wood, the threshold of a house and copper. Copper seems to be the most appropriate.
87 The word used is tata.
88 The cycles, the ups and the downs.
89 Alternatively, birds in general. Since dead bodies are being talked about, crows are more appropriate.
90 The body.
91 Alternatively, avoids food that has fallen down on the ground.
92 The three sacrificial fires—garhapatya, ahavaniya and dakshina.
93 The word used is varna.
94 Yudhishthira.
1 Yama. This entire section is somewhat obscure and difficult to translate.
2 Are born again and again.
3 Yama.
4 To heaven.
5 Rush towards the desire and fall into hell.
6 Has no desire.
7 Of desire.
8 Dharma and adharma.
9 Because a true brahmana does not have to exert himself through sacrifices.
10 The vow of silence.
11 Prosperity characterizes this world and runs counter to the objective of the next world.
12 This doesn’t quite fit. Perhaps one means lack of compassion.
13 Alternatively, speaking well of themselves.
14 The list of six continues.
15 The four Vedas are Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. Sometimes, the Atharva Veda is not included and there is a list of three. Itihasa (Ramayana, Mahabharata) and the Puranas are regarded as the fifth Veda.
16 The brahman or the paramatman.
17 Meaning righteous.
18 Ancient sage from whom the Atharva Veda is traced.
19 The brahman or the paramatman.
20 The brahman or the paramatman.
21 Muni means sage or hermit, with a root in mouna or silence.
22 Munja is a kind of rush or grass, used to make girdles for brahmanas.
23 The preceptor is also like a father and initiation into studies is like a second birth.
24 The brahman or the paramatman. There is no gender in the text.
25 Barhata (brihati) is a kind of metre. Rathantara is a metre that particularly occurs in the Sama Veda.
26 The sun and the moon.
27 This shloka is especially difficult to understand and translate.
28 This is a reference to the horses and chariot of the sun.
29 This is another shloka which is difficult to understand and translate. The twelve probably refers to the twelve months and the river is symbolic of life.
30 The image probably is that one only enjoys half the fruit of actions and has to be reborn.
31 The tree is symbolic of the brahman. The featherless birds are
individual souls or atman. Originally, they are part of the brahman. But having obtained feathers or individual characteristics, they are born as different beings.
32 The brahman is complete. The universe is also complete and is created from the brahman. But even after the universe has been created from the brahman, the complete brahman remains.
33 Prana is the breath of life in general. It is also divided into five separate actions of prana (exhalation), apana (downward inhalation), vyana (diffusion through the body), udana (upward inhalation) and samana (the breath of digestion). When inhaled apana air fills up the space left by exhaled prana air, that is called puraka and is one of the three components of pranayama.
34 There is a problem with the critical edition’s text here, with the word ritvijam being a clear typo.
35 There would be no difference between death and immortality. Man is being compared to a swan and man has four legs or parts (waking, dreaming, sleeping, turiya). Turiya is the fourth state, when one perceives union between the human soul atman and the brahman. Ordinary people only perceive the first three parts and one of the legs is therefore hidden and not used. Wise ones perceive the fourth leg too and see no difference between death and immortality.
36 The individual souls must all return to the brahman.
37 Because they do not possess wisdom and do not realize there is no difference between existence and non-existence.
38 For such a wise man.
39 The Vedas are being compared to the well.
40 Brahma.
41 The word used is pushkara, meaning a blue lotus. The lotus symbolizes the heart of a being. Alternatively, pushkara also means a cage and one might mean the cages that bodies represent.
1 Dhritarashtra.
2 Sanjaya.
3 Sanjaya.
4 The word used is tata.
5 This might mean either Dhritarashtra or Duryodhana, probably the former.
6 The other Pandavas.
7 This is Arjuna speaking and his words are being repeated by Sanjaya. Ajamidha was an earlier ancestor and Yudhishthira and Dhritarashtra are often referred to as Ajamidha. Arjuna means that if the kingdom is returned, those earlier crimes will be pardoned.
8 Nakula and Sahadeva.
9 Satyaki.
10 This is directly addressed to Duryodhana.
11 Yudhishthira.
12 Yudhishthira.
13 Droupadi’s five sons.
14 Most of the Kekayas fought on the side of the Kouravas.
15 Shakuni. In Section 28 (Volume 2), Sahadeva had vowed to kill Shakuni.
16 Abhimanyu. Abhimanyu was the son of Arjuna and Subhadra.
17 The Prabhadrakas were part of the Panchala army. However, some of them were from Panchala, others were from Kamboja, but worked for the Panchala army. A few Prabhadrakas also fought on the Kourava side.
18 Uttara.
19 Bhishma.
20 Drona taught Dhrishtadyumna.
21 Dhrishtadyumna.
22 The Panchalas.
23 Meaning Satyaki.
24 There is a minor inconsistency. The ‘him’ is Duryodhana and Arjuna is asking Sanjaya to tell Duryodhana. However, the entire segment is in the form of Arjuna’s message to Duryodhana and is within quotes, so to speak.
25 The creator.
26 Panchajanya is the name of Krishna’s conch shell, while Devadatta is the name of Arjuna’s conch shell.
27 The word used is dasyus.
28 It is difficult to pinpoint this incident. In Section 32 (Volume 2), Indra arrived before Arjuna in the form of a brahmana. However, the choice between Indra and Krishna did not arise. In Section 19 (Volume 2), Agni also arrived in the form of a brahmana, and in that incident, Krishna/Arjuna confronted Indra. The sense is that a passive (at the rear) Krishna is superior to an active (at the forefront) Indra. Sugriva is the name of one of Krishna’s horses, Sainya being the other.
29 Rukmini was the daughter of King Bhishmaka of Vidarbha (Bhoja). Her father wished her to marry Shishupala. But she loved Krishna and Krishna abducted her. Pradyumna was the son of Krishna and Rukmini.
30 Rukmini’s son, Pradyumna.
31 The name is also written as Sudarshana. This Nagnajit was a king of Gandhara and had imprisoned Sudarshana and other kings. Krishna liberated them. There is yet another Nagnajit, who was king of Koshala. Krishna married his daughter Satya.
32 Krishna defeated the king of Pandya.
33 King Poundraka was the king of Karusha and fancied himself to be superior to Krishna. He also called himself Vasudeva. The king of Kashi (Varanasi) became Poundraka’s ally and Krishna defeated and killed them both. The son of the king of Kashi was Sudakshina and he swore revenge, praying to Shiva. In the subsequent conflict, Krishna burnt down Varanasi.
34 Ekalavya allied himself with Jarasandha and was killed by Krishna when the Yadavas fought against Jarasandha. There were several demons named Jambha and Vishnu killed one of these.
35 Kamsa was Ugrasena’s son.
36 This story has been recounted in Section 31 (Volume 2).
37 Shalva.
38 Naraka was the son of the earth goddess and Vishnu in his varaha (boar) incarnation. He established the city of Pragjyotisha in Assam (Kamarupa). After Naraka stole Aditi’s earrings, Krishna killed him and his general, Mura. Hence, Krishna is known as Murari, Mura’s enemy. Pragjyotisha seems to be used both for the city and the kingdom. When it is used as a name for the kingdom, the capital is Nirmochana.
39 Naraka.
40 Krishna.
41 Kripa.
42 Mrigachakra seems to have been the circle of the nakshatras rather than the signs (rashi) of the zodiac.
43 Though the Srinjayas, that is the Panchalas, are the allies of the Pandavas.
44 Yudhishthira.
45 The word used is shaikya. This means a metal that has been moulded or cast, though not necessarily steel.
46 Probably peacocks.
47 Suparnas.
48 Names of divine weapons.
49 Arjuna is addressing Sanjaya now.
50 The side of the enemies.
51 Shukracharya.
52 This has been described in Section 35 (Volume 3). However, there is no mention of Jambha there. Jambha was a demon killed by Vishnu.
53 This has been described in Section 19 (Volume 2).
54 Arjuna.
55 The word used is tata.
56 Krishna is also one of Arjuna’s names.
57 The word used is tata.
58 Parashurama. Karna studied under Parashurama, pretending to be a brahmana, and was cursed by Parashurama when the deception was found out.
59 A kala, sixteen kalas constitute a whole.
60 The Pandavas.
61 Karna.
62 This has been recounted in Section 47.
63 This has been recounted in Section 39 (Volume 3).
64 Drona.
65 This has been described in Section 9 (Volume 1).
66 This has been described in Section 42 (Volume 3).
67 This has been described in Section 8 (Volume 1).
68 Meaning Droupadi. This has been described in Section 33 (Volume 3).
69 Arjuna.
70 Purandara is Indra’s name. This has been described in Section 19 (Volume 2).
71 This has been described in Section 31 (Volume 2). Girisha (lord of the mountain) is Shiva’s name.
72 Bhishmaka’s son and Rukmini’s brother.
73 This story will be told in Section 60.
74 Satyaki.
75 The word used is tata.
76 The word used is tata.
77 Shaikya.
78 The distance between an outstretched thumb and forefinger.
79 Because the Pandavas weren’t born in Hastinapura and came there only after Pandu died.
80 The word used is tata.
81 The word used is tata.
82 The word used is tata.
83 Shaikya.
84 Kishku, the le
ngth of the forearm.
85 Jarasandha’s.
86 The word used is tata.
87 The image is of the wheel of time.
88 The word used is tata.
89 Yudhishthira.
90 Drona and Karna.
91 The word used is tata.
92 Krishna is one of Arjuna’s names too.
93 The word used is tata.
94 Arjuna instructed Satyaki in the use of weapons.
95 The word used is tata.
96 Yudhishthira.
97 The name of Krishna’s chakra.
98 Arjuna’s standard. Arjuna has white horses.
99 Yudhishthira.
100 Duryodhana.
101 The word used is tata. There is a minor inconsistency, because this entire segment is in quotes and Dhritarashtra wasn’t present on the occasion. Duryodhana is recounting the conversation.
102 Bhishma’s name.
103 Balarama.
104 Yama’s.
105 Bhima.
106 Bhishma.
107 Ashvatthama’s father is Drona. His mother is Kripi and his maternal uncle is Kripa. None of them had normal births, Drona being born in a wooden vessel and Kripa and Kripi being born in a clump of reeds.
108 Parashurama.
109 Shachi is Indra’s wife. As recounted in Section 43 (Volume 3), there was no mention of Shachi.
110 They were so named because they had taken the oath.
111 Bhouvana or Bhoumana is Vishvakarma, the architect of the gods. Tvashta or Tvashtra is also Vishvakarma, but is mentioned here separately.
112 The rainbow.
113 The king of the gandharvas.
114 Yudhishthira.
115 Ajamidha was a common ancestor and Ajamidha is usually used for Yudhishthira and Dhritarashtra.
116 Presumably with armour.
117 That is, Yudhishthira. The king of Madra is Shalya.
118 The Kekayas were divided in their allegiance in the war. These five brothers fought on the side of the Pandavas, there were other Kekayas who fought on the side of the Kouravas.
119 Those who have taken an oath to win or die.
120 However, earlier, Duryodhana’s sons have been assigned to Bhima.
121 Sanjaya is addressing Dhritarashtra. The son of Subala is Shakuni, who is Gandhari’s brother.