173 There seems to be some repetition in the text.
174 This is a reference to the five senses, the five organs of action and the mind.
175 The human soul, as opposed to the divine and universal soul, brahman or paramatman.
176 Kshetra is the field, that is, the body. Kshetrajna is one who knows the body, that is, the soul, both human and universal.
177 There are actually fourteen worlds (lokas), seven above and seven below. This is a reference to the seven above—bhurloka, kharloka, svarloka, maharloka, janarloka, taparloka and satyaloka (brahmaloka).
178 Koushika.
179 Parashurama.
180 The word used is tata.
181 Yayati’s story appears in several sections, Section 33 is an instance. The daughter in question is Madhavi, whose sons saved Yayati from the sage Galava.
182 The word used is tata.
183 The word used is tata.
184 Kartikeya.
185 The Pleiades, the third of the twenty-seven nakshatras.
186 Agni is the bearer of oblations.
187Prajapatya is the act of giving away one’s possessions before becoming an ascetic.
188 Jataveda is Agni’s epithet, meaning someone who is the source of the Vedas.
189 Brahma had sons through his mental powers and the third of these was Angiras. Apava is Vasishtha’s name. Angiras had several wives, one of whom was named Subha. However, none of these was Vasishtha’s daughter. It is possible that the critical edition has got this wrong. For instance, instead of Apava’s daughter, some other versions say that Angiras had a wife named Subha and this fits better.
190Raga means love, passion, affection.
191 Sinivali is the day preceding the new moon and the moon’s crescent is so thin that it can hardly be seen. Kapardin is Shiva’s daughter. It is not clear who is Shiva’s daughter. Nothing fits well enough.
192 Kuhu is the day of the new moon, when the moon is invisible. Because the moon is invisible, it cannot be divided into parts.
193 Shamyu.
194 Bharata had a son named Bharata.
195 To avoid confusion, Viraa and Vira respectively.
196 In this context, a hymn to the fire.
197Nishchyavana literally means something that does not fall.
198Vipapa literally means free from sin.
199Nishkriti literally means freedom.
200 Literally, something that goes up.
201Manyu means wrath or resentment.
202 Kama has several meanings and one of these is an object of desire. Kama is the fire of passion or desire.
203Amogha means productive, infallible.
204 Uktha is a laudatory hymn, usually used for the Sama Veda. The ukthas were divided into three categories. Sakamashva is a specific hymn from the Sama Veda. It has its roots in sakam (together with) and ashva (horse), since one went to heaven together with the horse.
205 Vyahritis are sacred and mystical words. They are usually mentioned as three—bhuh, bhuvah and svah. Mahah is added as the fourth, the fifth varying according to context.
206 Panchajanya is the name of Krishna’s conch shell. But here, it means ‘five people’.
207 Brihat and rathantara are tones or melodies for chanting Sama Veda hymns. It is not obvious why these should be described as stealers of energy or vigour.
208Udatta is a high-pitched accent and anudatta is a low-pitched one.
209 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).
210 Panchajanya.
211 The word bharana means to sustain. Pushtimati seems to be another name for Bharata. The word pushti means nourishment or development.
212 The word shiva means lucky, auspicious, propitious.
213 Austerities personified. This is probably another name for Panchajanya.
214 While Urjaskara and Havyavahana are clear, it is not obvious who the other three in the listing of five are. Probably, Ushma, Shambu and Avasathya.
215 The lord of the cows is the sun. When the sun sets, it is night and the time for demons.
216 Balada, Manyumat, Vishnu and Agrayana.
217 The god of rain, Indra.
218 Another of Manu’s sons.
219 The trails of smoke.
220 The sage Kapila propounded sankhya yoga.
221 Tapas.
222 The text actually says grihapati. Garhapatya is the fire that burns in the household and is the son of Saha Apa and Mudita.
223 The Niyata or Kratu fire is the fire that burns the dead. Here, it is being equated with Bharata.
224 Agni.
225 Angiras.
226 The story of Agni’s fleeing and curse on the fish isn’t explained in the Mahabharata. But it occurs elsewhere and there are various reasons why Agni fled—to perform austerities, and because Agni is a polluter, since Agni devours everything, including the dead.
227 Presumably, crystal, emeralds and black iron.
228 Atharva.
229 The five rivers are Shatadru, Vipasha, Iravati, Chandrabhaga and Vitasta.
230Adbhuta means extraordinary and wonderful. But here, Adbhuta is being used as a proper name for the primeval fire.
231 Type of soma sacrifice.
232 Indra. Literally, the sacker of cities.
233 The name of a demon.
234 Indra.
235 Indra killed a demon named Paka.
236 Indra’s name. Literally, the performer of one hundred sacrifices.
237 Literally, devasena means the army of the gods, while daityasena means the army of the daityas.
238 In this context, Dakshayani means Daksha’s daughter. Daksha’s daughter was Aditi and she married Kashyapa. The Adityas or gods, including Indra, were born from this union. Several of Daksha’s daughters were married to Kashyapa and Kashyapa was Devasena’s father. However, it is not obvious which of Daksha’s daughters, one of Aditi’s sisters, was Devasena’s mother.
239 Indra.
240 Mountain from which the sun rises.
241 The ocean.
242 Parva means part or division and this probably means the twenty-four hours.
243 The rishis.
244 The rishis.
245Chandralekha.
246 Strictly speaking, Shivaa.
247 The other wives.
248 The other wives.
249 Garudi is the feminine of the Garuda bird. Garuda is also known as Suparna and Suparni is the feminine.
250 Vasishtha’s wife.
251 Skanda is another name for Kartikeya or Kumara. Guha is another of his names, as is Mahasena. Skanna means fallen or fallen down, and Skanda is derived from that.
252 Shiva is the slayer of Tripura.
253 The word used is tamrachuda. This means cock. But since tamra also means coppery red, the cock may have had this hue.
254 There are thirteen samskaras or sacraments. The list varies a bit. But one list is vivaha (marriage), garbhalambhana (conception), pumshavana (engendering a male child), simantonnayana (parting the hair, performed in the fourth month of pregnancy), jatakarma (birth rites), namakarana (naming), chudakarma (tonsure), annaprashana (first solid food), keshanta (first shaving of the head), upanayana (sacred thread), vidyarambha (commencement of studies), samavartana (graduation) and antyeshti (funeral rites).
255 These divine mothers are sometimes described as companions of Shiva, sometimes as companions of Skanda. Their number is usually given as seven or eight, and more rarely, sixteen.
256 The mothers.
257 Agni.
258 These sentences are a bit obscure. Agni is often associated with a goat, specifically, a ram. So is Skanda. Both Agni and Skanda are referred to as Naigameya and in this form, Skanda cures children of ailments. The mother who is the daughter of the ocean of blood is Krura.
259
Victory over Skanda.
260 Airavata is Indra’s elephant.
261 Vishakha is also one of Skanda’s names. The word vish means to enter, and Vishakha is derived from that.
262 Kumara’s epithet.
263 Meaning infant or child.
264 There is an anomaly in the numbers. The number of mothers (matrikas) is sometimes given as seven, sometimes as eight. Seven is also associated with the six stars of the Pleiades (krittika). One sentence in the text mentions seven mothers, but the next sentence suggests eight. Krittika (krittikas in the plural) is the third of the twenty-seven nakshatras. Reared by the Krittikas, Skanda was named Kartikeya. The six wives of the rishis became the Krittikas.
265 Skanda.
266 This is a reference to Svaha having adopted the forms of the wives of the rishis on six separate nights.
267 The word used is tata.
268 Indra.
269 Held over Skanda’s head.
270 Shiva.
271 Shiva’s consort, Uma.
272 Shiva. Literally, the one with a bull on his banner. Rudra is also Shiva’s name.
273 More correctly, placed there by Svaha in the form of the six wives.
274 The rooster or the cock is Skanda’s emblem. The peacock became his mount later.
275 Skanda’s name.
276 Brahma.
277 Lakshmi was personified in the form of Devasena. Lakshmi is also known as Shri.
278Panchami is the fifth lunar day.
279 Tithi is a lunar day and shashthi means the sixth. Shashthi is also one of Devasena’s names.
280 The text says devasenapati. This can mean either general of the gods, or Devasena’s husband. Both are equally correct.
281 Skanda.
282 The twenty-seven nakshatras were Daksha’s daughters and were married to Chandra, the moon. Krittika is the third, Rohini is the fourth, Dhanishtha is the twenty-third. Abhijit is not one of the twenty-seven, but has been added as a twenty-eighth, between the twenty-first and the twenty-second. The story in the text is clearly about the order of these nakshatras. Rohini was the first because Chandra loved her the most.
283 The time that the dislodged nakshatra was supposed to measure.
284 One can visualize the major stars of Pleiades arranged in the form of a cart.
285 Vinata is Garuda’s mother. However, Svaha assumed the form of a Garudi. So this Vinata means Svaha, rather than the Vinata who is Garuda’s mother.
286 Probably because their husbands had abandoned them.
287 It now becomes clear that these other mothers are the natural mothers of children.
288 A graha is something that seizes or grasps, that is, it is an evil spirit. It is also possible, in this context, to interpret a graha as a disease.
289 Literally, Skanda’s falling sick, or Skanda’s epilepsy.
290 The Kumaras.
291 The name of a tree used for medicinal purposes.
292 The number eighteen is not clearly explained. It could be Skandapasmara, Shakuni, Putana, Shitaputana, Revati, Mukhamandika, Surabhi, Sarama and Karanji (adding up to nine) and devagraha, pitrigraha, siddhagraha, rakshasagraha, yakshagraha, pishachagraha, gandharvagraha (adding up to seven) mentioned a little later, with perhaps Vinata and Kadru added. Alternatively, children are believed to suffer from nine different kinds of diseases or afflictions. Eighteen might mean these nine diseases and the nine mothers who preside over these diseases.
293 The mother.
294 Kadru is the mother of serpents. Arishta is the mother of gandharvas and Muni is the mother of apsaras, and Arishta and Muni are Kadru’s sisters. But here, Kadru seems to be the mother of gandharvas and apsaras.
295 Perhaps implying that the foetus does not move and is dead.
296 Literally, someone whose path is red.
297 Two beings. The first is masculine and Minjika, and the latter is feminine and Minjikaa. They are worshipped by those who wish to ensure the welfare of children.
298 Alternatively, as a proper name, the river Lohita or Brahmaputra.
299 Mountain, river, sun, earth and trees.
300 The arka tree is the sun-plant, a small tree with medicinal uses. In the Skanda Purana, the five ganas are named Dharma, Gyana, Vairagya, Aishvarya and Adharma.
301 Minjikaa.
302 Indra’s elephant.
303 Samtanaka is one of the five trees in Indra’s celestial pleasure garden. Parijata is another.
304 Kind of tree.
305 The China rose.
306 Shiva. Pashupati is another of Shiva’s names.
307 Bhadravata, to the east of Kailasa, is one of the three places where Shiva is said to reside.
308 Indra’s bow is the rainbow.
309 Kubera is the lord of riches. He is known as Naravahana because he rides a man. Pushpaka is Kubera’s chariot.
310 Jambhakas are demons or evil spirits. They are also Shiva’s companions.
311 In addition to Rudra being Shiva’s name, there were also minor gods (eleven in number) known as Rudras.
312 Death.
313 Kamandalu.
314 The words Bhrigu and Angiras are in the plural, suggesting those of these two lineages, rather than Bhrigu and Angiras individually.
315 Shiva.
316 The moon.
317 The text actually says Vrishaketana, but Vrishadhvaja and Vrishaketana have the same meaning.
318 Shiva.
319 Missiles that can kill one hundred at one go.
320 Rudra.
321 Meaning Shiva.
322 Indra.
323 The one with three eyes, Shiva.
1 Droupadi is actually Krishnaa, though it has been written as Krishna.
2 The Pandavas had other wives too. Bhima was married to Hidimba. Arjuna was married to Subhadra, Ulupi and Chitrangada. Nakula was married to Karenumati and Sahadeva to Vijaya.
3 The singular is used in the text.
4 Kunti.
5 A snataka is a brahmana who has completed his period of celibate student life and is about to step into the householder stage.
6 Pradyumna’s mother is Krishna’s wife Rukmini.
7 Bhanu was the son of Krishna and Satyabhama.
8 Balarama.
9 That is, Krishnaa or Droupadi.
10 Shouri is Krishna’s name.
1 The Kamyaka forest.
2 That is, Dhritarashtra.
3 That is, the Pandavas.
4 Ranku is a kind of antelope.
5 Karna.
6 Shakuni.
7 The four types of weapons are amukta (those not released, like swords), mukta (those released, like chakras), muktamukta (those that can be released or not released, like spears) and yantramukta (those released from a machine or implement, like arrows).
8 Arjuna, Gandiva and the celestial weapons.
9 Subala’s son, Shakuni.
10 Duryodhana.
11 Indra killed a demon named Shambara.
12 The sun.
13 Indra.
14 The moon is the king of the nakshatras.
15 The plural is used, meaning Duryodhana and his brothers.
16 Vidura.
17 Arjuna.
18Kashaya, red or ochre, is the colour of an ascetic’s robes.
19 That is, Arjuna.
20 Bhishma.
21 Stations where the cowherds assemble cattle.
22 The palms of their hands. A more contemporary rendering would be that they shook hands.
23 The son of Radha, Karna.
24 The Pandavas.
25 Droupadi.
26 Arjuna.
27 The numbering and branding of the cattle.
28 Duryodhana.
29 From the lake. A gavyuti is a measure of distance, equal to two kroshas (four miles) or one krosha (two miles).
30Gavaya.
31 Sadyaska is a kind of sacrifice, meaning either a new sacrifice, or a sacrifice that is completed in a single day.
> 32 Gandharvas can fly in the sky. Chitrasena is the king of the gandharvas.
33 Vaikartana is Karna’s name. Radheya is also Karna’s name.
34 Arrows with sharp heads in the form of horseshoes.
35 Small arrows.
36 Missiles or arrows.
37 Arrows with heads like the teeth of a calf.
38 Of the chariot.
39 A chariot was surrounded by a wooden fender that acted like armour. This was called varutha.
40 Trivenu means three bamboo poles. One doesn’t know what part of the chariot this is, except that it is clearly a joint.
41 These, and the names that follow, are of Duryodhana’s brothers.
42 Duryodhana and his army.
43 The word used is tata.
44 Yudhishthira.
45 The word used is tata.
46 Chitrasena.
47 Yudhishthira’s charioteer.
48 The word used is tata.
49 Yudhishthira is engaged in a sacrifice.
50 Yudhishthira’s name.
51 Yudhishthira is the senior.
52 The gandharvas.
53 Meaning, the gandharvas.
54 The word used is tata.
55 Of the gandharvas.
56 All of these are celestial weapons. It is impossible to be more specific than that. Sthunakarna literally means something that has a pillar for its ears. Soura, agneya and soumya are named after the sun, the fire and the moon respectively. Literally, indrajala means Indra’s net and stands for something magical.
Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) Page 67
