The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 by or: Kisari Mohan Ganguli

O >> or: Kisari Mohan Ganguli >> The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4

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206. By good conduct is implied modesty and candour.

207. Anekantam is explained by the commentator as Anekaphalakaram, i.e.,
of diverse kinds of fruits. The fruits attainable by a correct discharge
of duties are of diverse kinds, because the objects of those duties,
called Palms are of various kinds.

208. Verse 22 contains 4 substantives in the genitive plural. All those
are connected with vishtham in the previous verse. The commentator points
out this clearly. Those living in the outskirts of towns and villages are
tanners and other low castes. They who publish the acts and omissions of
others are regarded as very vile persons, equivalent to such low caste
men mentioned above. It is difficult to differ from the commentator, but
it seems that genitives in the verse as are used for datives, in which
case the meaning would be that they who give unto such persons shall also
sink into hell. The Burdwan translator gives a ridiculous version of
verse 22.

209. The Bengal reading Brahmacharyya is better than the Bombay reading
of that word in the accusative. Bhishma apparently gives two answers.
These however involve three. By maryyada is meant boundaries or limits.
The duties of men have known bounds. To transgress those bounds would be
to transgress duty. The highest indication of Righteousness is samah or
absence of desire for all worldly objects; hence Renunciation.

210. i.e., by making gifts unto even a single such Brahmana, one rescues
all the ancestors and descendants of one's race.

211. One makes gifts unto the deities, the Pitris, and unto human beings.
There is a time for each kind of gift. If made untimely, the gift,
instead of producing any merit, becomes entirely futile, if not sinful.
Untimely gifts are appropriated by Rakshasas. Even food that is taken
untimely, does not strengthen the body but goes to nourish the Rakshasas
and other evil beings.

212. i.e., any food, a portion of which has been eaten by any of these
persons, is unworthy of being given away. If given, it is appropriated by
Rakshasas. One incompetent to utter Om is, of course, a Sudra.

213. The speaker, by first mentioning who are unworthy, means to point
out those that are worthy.

214. Apasmara is a peculiar kind of epilepsy in which the victim always
thinks that he is pursued by some monster who is before his eyes. When
epilepsy is accompanied by some delusion of the sensorium, it comes to be
called by Hindu physicians as Apasmara.

215. An Agrani or Agradani is that Brahmana unto whom the food and other
offerings to the Preta in the first Sraddha are given away. Such a person
is regarded as fallen.

216. When corpses are taken to crematoria, certain rites have to be
performed upon them before they can be consumed. Those Brahmanas that
assist at the performance of those rites are regarded as fallen.

217. Sometimes the father of a daughter bestows her upon a bridegroom
under the contract that the son born of that daughter by her husband
should be the son of the daughter's father. Such a son, who is
dissociated from the race of his own father, is called a Putrika-putra.

218. Anugraham is that merit in consequence of which faults become
neutralised and the stained person may come to be regarded as deserving.

219. As Drona, Aswatthaman, Kripa, Rama and others.

220. Uditastamita means one who having earned wealth spends it all in
gifts. Astamitodita is one who though poor at first succeed in earning
wealth afterwards; i.e., one who having become rich, keeps that wealth
for spending it on good purposes.

221. Upon the completion of a Sraddha, the Brahmana who is officiating at
it should utter the words yukta which means well-applied. Certain other
words such as Swadha, etc., have to be uttered. The meaning is that the
Brahmana who assists the performer of the Sraddha by reciting the Mantras
should, upon completion, say unto the performer that the Sraddha is
well-performed. As the custom is, these words are still uttered by every
Brahmana officiating at Sraddhas.

222. K. P. Singha wrongly renders the word somakshayah as equivalent to
somarasah.

223. Upon the conclusion of a Sraddha or other rites, the Brahmana who
officiates at it, addresses certain other Brahmanas that are invited on
the occasion and says,--Do you say Punyaham--The Brahmana addressed
say,--Om, let it be Punyaham!--By Punyaham is meant sacred day.

224. The fact is, the slaughter of animals in a sacrifice leads to no sin
but if slaughtered for nothing (i.e., for purposes of food only), such
slaughter leads to sin.

225. One is said to become impure when a birth or a death occurs among
one's cognates of near degree. The period of impurity varies from one day
to ten days in case of Brahmanas. Other periods have been prescribed for
the other orders. During the period of impurity one cannot perform one's
daily acts of worship, etc.

226. In this country, to this day, there are many persons that go about
begging, stating that they desire to go to Banaras or other places of the
kind. Sometimes alms are sought on the ground of enabling the seeker to
invest his son with the sacred thread or perform his father's Sraddha,
etc. The Rishi declares such practices to be sinful.

227. Literally that are afraid of thieves and others. The sense, of
course, is that have suffered at the hands of thieves and others and are
still trembling with fear.

228. The two exceptions have been much animadverted upon by unthinking
persons. I have shown that according to the code of morality, that is in
vogue among people whose Christianity and civilisation are
unquestionable, a lie may sometimes be honourable. However casuists may
argue, the world is agreed that a lie for saving life and even property
under certain circumstances, and for screening the honour of a confiding
woman, is not inexcusable. The goldsmith's son who died with a lie on his
lips for saving the Prince Chevalier did a meritorious act. The owner
also who hides his property from robbers, cannot be regarded as acting
dishonourably.

229. By selling the Vedas is meant the charging of fees for teaching
them. As regards the Vedas, the injunction in the scriptures is to commit
them to memory and impart them from mouth to mouth. Hence to reduce them
into writing was regarded as a transgression.

230. In this country to this day, the act of marrying a helpless person
with a good girl by paying all the expenses of the marriage, is regarded
as an act of righteousness. Of course, the man that is so married is also
given sufficient property for enabling him to maintain himself and his
wife.

231. Articles needed in marriages are, of course, girls and ornaments.

232. Vapra has various meanings. I think, it means here a field. Large
waste lands often require to be enclosed with ditches and causeways.
Unless so reclaimed, they cannot be fit for cultivation.

233. The river Chenab in the Punjab was known in former times by the name
of Chandrabhaga. So the river Jhelum was known by the name of Vitasta.

234. The sense is that one proceeds to the region of the Apsaras and
becomes an object of respect there.

235. i.e., one acquires sovereignty.

236. It is difficult to understand the connection of the second line of
verse 31. It does not mean enters the eternal region called Andhaka that
rests on nothing. Human sacrifices were performed sometimes in former
days.

237. Nyastani has Gangayam understood after it.

238. The deities are supported by the offerings made in sacrifices. These
offerings consist of the productions of the Earth and the butter produced
by the cow. The deities, therefore, are said to be chiefly supported by
the Earth and the Cow. The Asuras, by afflicting the Earth and killing
kine, used to weaken the deities.

239. The river Ganga has three courses. On Earth it is called Bhagirathi
or Ganga; in heaven it is called Mandakini; and in the nether regions it
is known by the name of Bhogabati.

240. Devesh is lit. the lord of the deities; but here it means the King
or Emperor.

241. Aranyaih is explained by the commentator as implying courses of
conduct leading to Brahmaloka.

242. The story referred to is this: King Sagara of the solar (?) race had
sixty thousand sons, all of whom were reduced to ashes by the curse of
Kapila. Afterwards Bhagiratha, a prince of the same race, brought down
Ganga from heaven for their redemption.

243. Identical with the universe because capable of conferring the
fruition of every wish. Vrihati--literally, large or vast, is explained
by the commentator as implying foremost or superior.

244. Madhumatim is explained as conferring the fruits of all good actions.

245. Viswam avanti iti. Here the absence of num is arsha.

246. Bhuvanasya is swargasya.

247. The construction of this verse is not difficult though the order of
the words is a little involved. Both the vernacular translators have
misunderstood it completely.

248. Kurute may mean also makes. The sense is that the Brahmana grants to
others whatever objects are desired by them. In his own case also, he
creates those objects that he himself desires. His puissance is great and
it is through his kindness that others get what they wish or seek.

249. Ekaramah is one who sports with one's own self, i.e., who is not
dependant on others for his joy or happiness; one who has understood the
soul.

250. Dasatirdasa is ten times hundred or one thousand Dasati, like
Saptati, Navati, etc., means ten times ten. Both the Vernacular
translators have erred in rendering the word.

251. Teshu (Brahmaneshu) Vahumanaprah (san) kan namsvasi--this is the
Grammar, as explained by the commentator.

252. Yajanti with reference to truth and righteousness means worship, and
with reference to land kine means give away.

253. Pigeons pick up scattered grains and never store for the morrow. In
the Sila and other vows, the picking up of scattered and cast off grains
from the field after the crops have been taken away by the owners, is
recommended as the means of filling the stomach.

254. The aggregate of three is Righteousness, Wealth, and Pleasure.
Persons who, in all the acts they do, keep an eye upon these three, are
said to have their aggregate of three existing in all their acts.

255. Some texts read vriddhan for Ishtan. If the former reading be
adopted, the meaning would be that kings should worship all aged
Brahmanas possessed of Vedic lore.

256. Though really conversant with all duties, and of righteous
behaviour, the Brahmanas, nevertheless, for concealing their real natures
or for protecting the world, are seen to be employed in diverse kinds of
occupations.

257. The argument, therefore, is that anything given to the Brahmana to
eat and that is eaten by him apparently, is really eaten by these deities.

258. Bhutatmanah is explained by the commentator as Bhuta
praptahvasikritahatma yaih.

259. The second line of verse 18 is a crux. The commentator explains that
prakshipya means dattwa; Kun is the Earth. Van is diptim ukrvan,
ubhaya-loke iti seshah. Para- [This footnote appears to have been
truncated, as the last line begins with a hyphenated word.--JBH.]

260. The dark spots on the Moon were due to the curse of Daksha. The
waters of the Ocean became saltish owing to the curse of a Rishi.

261. The sense is that one becomes a Brahmana by birth alone, without the
aid of those purificatory rites that have been laid down in the
scriptures. When food is cooked, none else than a Brahmana is entitled in
the first portion thereof.

262. The commentator thinks that saudram karma has especial reference to
the service of others. Hence what is interdicted for the Brahmanas is the
service of others.

263. In this country to this day, when food is prepared in view of guests
invited to a house, no portion of such food can be offered to any one
before it is dedicated to the deities and placed before those for whom it
is intended. An exception, however, is made for children. What is stated
here is that a good Brahmana can take the precedence of even children in
the matter of such food.

264. What is stated here is that those Brahmanas that do not accept gifts
are very superior. Their energy and might are great. Bhishma directs
Yudhishthira to be always careful of how he would treat such superior
Brahmanas. After rakshyam, the words swakulam are understood. The Burdwan
translator misunderstands the second line of the verse.

265. The construction is Etat Brahmana-mukhat sastram, yat srutwaiha
pravartate, prithivyam etc, etc. Both the vernacular translators have
misunderstood the verse.

266. Etat karanam seems to refer to Brahamana-mukhat sastram. The sense
seems to be that in the encounter between the deities and the Asuras the
power of the Brahmanas was abundantly proved, for Sukra aided the Asuras
with his Mantras and incantations, while Vrihaspati and others aided the
deities by the same means.

267. In some of the Bengal texts for Bhumiretau the reading Bhumireto
occurs. The fact is, the latter is a misprint or a mere clerical error.
The etau has reference to the two mentioned in the second line. The
Burdwan translator actually takes Bhumireto as a correct reading and
makes nonsense of the verse.

268. I expand this verse. After kriya bhavati patratwam is understood.
Kriya includes the diverse objects for which persons solicit alms or
gifts. Upansuvratam is maunam parivrajyam.

269. It is said that food or other things, when given to an undeserving
person, feels grief. What Yudhishthira asks is who the proper person is
unto whom gifts may be made.

270. All these acts should be performed with purity of intention and
according to the ordinances of the scriptures. For example, sacrifices
should not be performed with vanity or pride. The Vedas should not be
studied without faith. Children should not be procreated from lust, etc.

271. Such words are unseizable and unintelligible for their depth of
meaning. Women are equally unseizable and unintelligible.

272. The sense is this: women agitate the hearts of those that treat them
with respect as of those that treat them with disdain. The commentator
explains that Pujitah dhikkritahva tulyavat vikaram janayati.

273. All living creatures are virtuous, for they are capable of
progressing towards godship by their own acts.

274. Pura has little force here, implying 'first'. In the first place,
know that I have come to thee,

275. Ladies spoke in Prakrita and not in Sanskrit. The latter is refined,
the former is unrefined. Hence Indra's surprise at hearing Sanskrit words
from the lady's lips.

276. The adana ceremony was a rite in course of which friends and kinsmen
had to make presents unto the person performing the ceremony. The
investiture with the sacred-thread, marriage, the rite performed in the
sixth and the ninth month of pregnancy, are all ceremonies of this kind.

277. It would be curious to see how the commentator Nilakantha seeks to
include within these five the eight forms of marriage mentioned by Manu.
The fact is, such parts of the Mahabharata are unquestionably more
ancient than Manu. The mention of Manu is either an instance of
interpolation or there must have been an older Manu upon whose work the
Manu we know has been based. The Asura and the Rakshasa forms are
unequivocally condemned. Yet the commentator seeks to make out that the
Rakshasa form is open to the Kshatriyas. The fact is, the Rakshasa was
sometimes called the Paisacha. The distinction between those two forms
was certainly of later origin.

278. Thus, there was no difference, in status, in ancient times, between
children born of a Brahmana, a Kshatriya or a Vaisya mother. The
difference of status was of later origin.

279. Nagnika is said to be one who wears a single piece of cloth. A girl
in whom the signs of puberty have not appeared does not require more than
a single piece of cloth to cover her. The mention of Nagnika, the
commentator thinks, is due to an interdiction about wedding a girl of
even ten years in whom signs of puberty have appeared.

280. When a father happens to have an only daughter, he frequently
bestows her in marriage upon some eligible youth on the understanding
that the son born of her shall be the son, for purposes of both Sraddha
rites and inheritance, not of the husband begetting him but of the girl's
father. Such a contract would be valid whether expressed or not at the
time of marriage. The mere wish of the girl's father, unexpressed at the
time of marriage, would convert the son into a son not of the father who
begets him but of the father of the girl herself. A daughter reserved for
such a purpose is said to be a putrikadharmini or 'invested with the
character of a son.' To wed such a girl was not honourable. It was in
effect an abandonment of the fruits of marriage. Even if dead at the time
of marriage, still if the father had, while living, cherished such a
wish, that would convert the girl into a putrikadharmini. The repugnance
to wedding girls without father and brothers exists to this day.

281. For understanding the meanings of Sapinda and Sagotra see any work
on Hindu law civil or canonical.

282. These verses are exceedingly terse. The commentator explains that
what is intended is that under the third and fourth circumstances the
giver of the girl incurs no sin; under the second, the bestower of the
girl (upon a person other than he unto whom a promise had been made)
incurs fault. The status of wife, however, cannot attach simply in
consequence of the promise to bestow upon the promiser of the dower. The
relationship of husband and wife arises from actual wedding. For all
that, when the kinsmen meet and say, with due rites, 'This girl is this
one's wife,' the marriage becomes complete. Only the giver incurs sin by
not giving her to the promised person.

283. Hence, having promised to wed such a one, she is at liberty to give
him over and wed another whom she likes.

284. In consequence of that boon no one incurs sin by retracting promises
of bestowing daughters upon others in view of more eligible husbands.

285. Hence, no one should bestow his daughter upon a person that is not
eligible, for the offspring of such marriage can never be good and such a
marriage can never make the daughter's sire or kinsmen happy.

286. One of the most important rites of marriage is the ceremony of
circumambulation. The girl is now borne around the bride-groom by her
kinsmen. Formerly, she used to walk herself. All gifts, again, are made
with water. The fact is, when a thing is given away, the giver, uttering
the formula, sprinkles a drop of water upon it with a blade of Kusa grass.

287. Hence, what Savitri did at the bidding of her sire could not be
against the course of duty or morality. The Burdwan translator has
misunderstood the second line of this verse, while K.P. Singha has
quietly dropped it.

288. Dharmasya refers to the true or correct or eternal Aryan usage,
Pradanam is khandanam, from da, to cut The sense is that the grant of
liberty to women is an Asura practice.

289. Hence, no one should wed, led by desire alone. Nor should the maiden
be permitted to choose for herself. She may be guided in her choice by
improper considerations connected with only carnal pleasure.

290. The property is divided into five parts, two of which are taken by
the daughter under such circumstances and three by the son.

291. I expand the verse for making it intelligible, by setting forth the
reasons urged by Hindu lawyers and noticed by the commentator.

292. Valatah vasyam implies only those whose consent is obtained by
force. Hence, such cases as those of Krishna abducting Rukmini and Arjuna
abducting Subhadra, are excluded from this denunciation.

293. The maiden may herself accept ornaments. That would not convert the
transaction into a sale.

294. Swalpa-kaupinah literally is covered with a small piece of cloth,
hence, capable of being easily seduced.

295. i.e., he should not acquire for storing. He may acquire to spend in
sacrifices and gifts or for maintaining himself and his family.

296. i.e., if the Brahmana, led by affection for any other wife,
disregards the wife belonging to his own order and shows preference for
those of the other orders, he then incurs the liability of being regarded
as a Chandala that has come to be numbered among Brahmanas.

297. The sense of this verse seems to be this: If a Brahmana takes in
succession three spouses all belonging to his own order, the son born of
his first wife shall take the share that is allotted to the eldest; that
born of the second wife shall take a share next in value; and that born
of the youngest wife shall take the share allotted to the youngest. After
such especial shares are taken, the residue of the property is to be
distributed unto equal shares each of which shall be taken by each of the
children. If this interpretation be correct, it would appear that the
contention waged some years ago in Bengal, that the scriptures do not
allow a person the liberty of taking more than one spouse from his own
order, falls to the ground. Upon other grounds also, that contention was
absurd, for Kshatriya kings often took more than one Kshatriya spouse.

298. i.e., each order was created for performing sacrifices. The Sudra is
competent to perform sacrifice. Only his sacrifice should be by serving
the three other orders.

299. For them there is no investiture with the sacred-thread.

300. Broken earthenpots are always cast off. They are some times utilised
by persons of the lower orders.

301. The second line is exceedingly terse. The sense seems to be this:
one who is of low birth must remain low in disposition. Absolute goodness
may arise in his heart, but it disappears immediately without producing
any effect whatsoever. The study of the scriptures, therefore, cannot
raise such a person. On the other hand, the goodness which according to
its measure has ordained for one (1) the status of humanity and (2) the
rank in that status, is seen to manifest itself in his act.

302. The son begotten upon a maiden by one who does not become her
husband, and born after her marriage, is regarded as belonging not to the
begetter but to the husband.

303. Such a son becomes the property of the mother's husband and not of
his begetter. If however, the begetter expresses a wish to have him and
rear him, he should be regarded as the begetter's. The principle upon
which he becomes the child of the mother's husband is that the begetter
conceals himself and never wishes to have him.

304. The objects of Yudhishthira's question will appear clearly from the
answer given to it by Bhishma.

305. There is no fault in kine, etc., and kine are like fire etc. The
Hindu idea is that kine are cleansing or sanctifying. The Rishis
discovered that the magnetism of the cow is something that is possessed
of extraordinary virtues. Give the same kind of food to a cow and a
horse. The horse-dung emits an unhealthy stench, while the cowdung is an
efficacious disinfectant. Western science has not yet turned its
attention to the subject, but there can be little doubt that the urine
and dung of the cow possess untold virtues.

306. Saptopadam mitram means that by speaking only seven words or walking
only seven steps together, two persons, if they be good, become friends.

307. Vajrasuchyagram may also mean furnished with an end like that of the
needle with which diamonds and other hard gems are bored through.

308. The ever-changing beautiful masses of afternoon or evening clouds,
presenting diverse kinds of forms almost every minute, are regarded as
the abodes or mansions of the Gandharvas.

309. Some of these trees and creepers are identifiable. Sahakara is
Mangifera Indica, Linn. Ketaka is a variety of Pandanus Odoratissimus,
Linn. Uddalaka is otherwise called Vahuvara and sometimes Selu. It is the
Cordia Myxa, Linn. It may be a misreading for Uddanaka, which is the
well-known Cirisha or the Mimosa Sirisca of Roxburgh. Dhava is Conocarpus
latifolia, Roxb. Asoka is Saraca Indica, Linn., syn, Jonesia Asoka, Roxb.
Kunda is Jasminum pubescens, Linn. Atimukta is otherwise called Madhavi.
It is Gaertinera racemosa, Roxb. Champaka is Michelia Champaca, Linn.
Tilaka sometimes stands for Lodhra, i.e., Symplocos racemosa, Roxb. The
word is sometimes used for the Aswattha or Ficus religiosa, Linn. Bhavya
is Dillenia Indica, Linn. Panasa is Artocarpus integrifolia, Linn. The
Indian Jack-tree. Vyanjula stands for the Asoka, also Vetasa (Indian
cane), and also for Vakula, i.e., Mimusops Elengi, Linn. Karnikara is
Pterospermum accrifolium, Linn. Cyam#a is sometimes used for the Pilu,
i.e., Salvadora Persica, Linn. Varanapushpa or Nagapushpa or Punnaga is
Colophyllum inophyllum, Linn. Astapadika or padika is otherwise called
Bhardravalli. It is the Vallaris dichotoma, Wall., Syn., Echites
dichotoma, Roxb.

310. Bhringaraja is the Lanius Malabaricus. Kokila is the well-known
Indian Koel or cuckoo. Catapatra is the wood-pecker. Koyashtika is the
Lapwing. Kukkubhas are wild-cocks (Phasinus gallus). Datyuhas are a
variety of Chatakas or Gallinules. Their cry resembles the words
(phatikjal). Jivajivaka is a species of partridges. Chakora is the Greek
partridge. Sarasa is the Indian crane. Chakravaka is the Brahmini duck or
goose.