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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311. In verse 39 and 40 for asmi and tapacchaitat read asi and tapasaccha.

312. The Grandsire spoke of somebody becoming a Kshatriya in Bhrigu's
race, and referred to the incident as the result of a stain that would be
communicated to that race from Kusika's. This is the full allusion.

313. The sense seems to be that Kusika wishes to know what person of
Bhrigu's race will confer this high benefit upon his race.

314. By ancestors to the seventh degree also descendants to the same
degree are meant.

315. Heaven and Hell are places of only enjoyment and endurance. There
can be no acts there leading to merit or demerit. This world is the only
place which is called the field of acts.

316. Vrikshas are large or small trees generally. Gulma is a shrub, or
bushy plant. Lata is a creeper, which cannot grow without a support.
Talli is of the same variety, with this difference, perhaps, that its
stems are more tree-like than those of creepers. Twaksara is the bamboo.
Trina includes all kinds of grass.

317. The commentator explains that the drift of Yudhishthira's query is
this: the giver and the receiver do not meet in the next world. How then
can an object given away return or find its way back to the giver in the
next world or next life?

318. Abhimanat is differently understood by the commentator.

319. Yuktaih is the better reading, although muktaih may not be
erroneous. Yuktain is charaih; while muktath is 'men charged with a
commission to do a thing'.

320. This sacrifice is the sacrifices of gifts. 'Spreading out a
sacrifice' means 'spreading out the articles and placing them in proper
order in view of the sacrifice.' 'Dadatah vartotam' means datustaya
saryanastu.

321. The sense is this: gifts made to such superior Brahmanas serve to
free a person from the debts which he owes to the deities. The 'water of
gifts' means the water that the giver sprinkles, with a blade of Kusa
grass, over the article given away, saying, 'I give this away'. In the
sacrifice constituted by gifts, such water is like the dedication of
offerings to the Pitris. A knowledge of the ritual of sacrifice is needed
to understand and appreciate the figures employed in such verses.

322. Some texts read tathabham, meaning abhayam or fearlessness is from
them--Tathobhayam (which I adopt) is that both, Heaven and Hell become
one's through them if gratified, they bestow Heaven; if angry, they hurl
into Hell.

323. Yachyam is yachanarupamkarma, Anisasya is daridrasya. Abhiharam is
tirashkaram. Yachanti bhutani means those who beg or solicit. In the
Santi Parva, Bhishma in one place directs beggars to be driven away from
towns and cities as annoyers of respectable people. This, however,
applies to professional beggars, and not persons in real distress.

324. Antarvedyan is within the platform; and Anrisamsyatah is vahirvedyan
or outside the platform.

325. Sacrifices are a means of giving away unto the Brahmanas.

326. Weeping women means women of destitute condition and, therefore,
unable to pay.

327. The first word in the first line is not kshatam but kritam.

328. The Commentator explains that because giver by one that is dear or
given to one that is dear, therefore is she called Priyadatta.

329. This is evidently a crux. Prasamsanti means generally praise. Here
it means reproach or censure. The second line may also mean, his enemies
dare not attack his kingdom.

330. This is the utterance or declaration of the earth herself.

331. Rich with every taste' the idea is that things have six tastes,
viz., sweet, sour, etc. The quality of taste is drawn by things from the
soil or earth. The tastes inhere in earth, for it is the same earth that
produces the sugarcane and the tamarind.

332. Sparsitam is dattam.

333. The Bombay reading adityatastansha is better than the Bengal reading
adityataptansha.

334. What Yudhishthira wishes to know is what conjunctions should be
utilized for making what particular gifts.

335. Payasa is rice boiled in sugared milk. It is a sort of liquid food
that is regarded as very agreeable.

336. Vardhamana, Sarava or Saravika. It is a flat certain cup or dish.

337. Phanita is the inspissated juice of the sugarcane.

338. A prasanga is a basket of bamboo or other material for covering
paddy.

339. Rajamasha is a kind of bean. It is the Vinga sinensis, syn.
Dilicheos sinensis Linn.

340. There may be akama and sakama acts, i.e., acts without desires of
fruit and acts with desires of fruit. A Sraddha with Tila or sesame
should never be done without desire for fruit.

341. When a residential house is given away unto such a Brahmana and the
receiver resides in it, the giver reaps the reward indicated. It does not
refer to the hospitable shelter to such a Brahmana given by one in one's
own house.

342. To this day, in Bengal at least, a tenant never performs the first
Sraddha or a Puja (worship of the deities) without obtaining in the first
instance the permission of the landlord. There is in Sraddhas a
Rajavarana or royal fee payable to the owner of the earth on which the
Sraddha is performed.

343. Tasyam is explained by the commentator as kritayam.

344. Kinasa is either one who tills the soil with the aid of bulls or one
who slays cattle. Having first mentioned vadhartham, kinasa should here
be taken for a tiller. Kasai, meaning butcher, seems to be a corruption
of the word kinasa.

345. One need not dedicate unto one's deities any other food than what
one takes oneself. In the Ramayana it has been said that Rama offered
unto the Pitris astringent fruits while he was in exile. The Pisachas
dedicate carrion unto their deities for they themselves subsist upon
carrion.

346. The first line of 13 and the last line of 14 are very terse: Kalasya
vihitam, as explained by the Commentator, is ayuh pramanam, na prapnami
is na janami. The sense is that 'unurged by rime, I cannot allow these to
take up my residence here.'

347. i.e., invite Brahmanas to feasts in which sesame should predominate.

348. In Bengal, to this day, those who can afford, particularly pious
ladies, establish shady resting places in the month of Vaisakha (the
hottest month of the year), by the side of the public roads, for
travellers, where good cool drinking water, a handfull of well-drenched
oats, and a little of raw sugar, are freely distributed. Such
institutions, on the old Benares Road and the Grand Trunk Road,
considerably refresh travellers. There are miles upon miles along these
roads where good water is not at all procurable.

349. What is meant by the giving of lamps is the placing of lighted lamps
in dark places which are the resorts of men, such as roads and ghats, etc.

350. Of equal name, because the word go means cow, earth, and speech.

351. No particular number is intended. What is meant is--innumerable.

352. The 'hence' in the last line has reference to what has been said
before on the subject of kine, and not to the first line of the verse.

353. Vitasokaih in the instrumental plural refers to Bhavanaih or some
such substantive understood. It may also be react as a nominative plural,
referring to Lokah.

354. Very probably what is said here is that only such kine are worthy of
being given away unto Brahmanas, and not lean animals.

355. Kine produce food not only by assisting at tillage of the soil, but
also by aiding in the performance of sacrifices. The ghee burnt in the
sacrificial fire sustains the under-deities, who pour rain and cause
crops to grow.

356. That heat is the originating principle of the growth of many things
was well understood by the Rishis.

357. The sense seems to be this: in doing all pious acts, one should
first take the aid of a preceptor, even if one be well-conversant with
the ordinances one has to follow. Without the selection of a preceptor in
the first place, there can be no pious act. In the matter, therefore, of
making gifts of kine according to the ordinances laid down, one should
seek the help of a preceptor as well as in the matter of every other act
of piety.

358. When consciousness of body is lost in Yoga or Samadhi, a temporary
Moksha or Emancipation succeeds. Men with cleansed minds behold at such
times those regions of supreme felicity to which the speaker refers. Such
felicity, of course, is the felicity of Brahma itself.

359. Govritti is imitating the cow in the matter of providing for the
morrow. Hence, one, who never thinks of the morrow and never stores
anything for future use, is meant.

360. Etachcha in 25 implies gift of a cow, and enam refers to a Brahmana.
Dwijaya dattwa, etc, in the first line of 26 seems to be an elaboration
of Etachcha.

361. Homyaheth prasute implies for a child born in consequence of a Homa.
The fact is, ascetics sometimes created children without the intervention
of women and by efficacy of the Homa alone. At such times should people
make gifts of kine unto such sires. The mention of Vala-samvriddhaye
afterwards implies the birth of children in the usual course.

362. Kshirapaih implies calves that are yet unweaned; that is, the cow
should be given at such a time when she is still yielding milk; when, in
fact, her calf has not learnt to eat or drink anything besides the milk
or its dam.

363. The correct reading of the second line is kshanene vipramuchya as in
the Bombay text, and not kshemena vipramuchyeran. The latter reading
yields almost no sense. The Burdwan translator, who has committed grave
blunders throughout the Anusasana, adheres to the incorrect reading, and
makes nonsense of the verse.

364. In verse 3; vikrayartham is followed, as the Commentator rightly
explains, by niyunkta or some such word. Vikrayartham hinsyat may mean
'killing for sale.' This, however should be pleonastic with reference to
what follows.

365. Vratas (rendered as 'vows') and Niyamas (rendered as observances)
differs in this respect that the former involves positive acts of worship
along with the observance of, or abstention from, particular practices,
while the latter involves only such observance or abstention.

366. The orthodox belief is that all rituals are literally eternal. As
eternal, they existed before anybody declared them or set them down in
holy writ. The ritual in respect of gifts of kine sprang in this way,
i.e., in primeval time. It was only subsequently declared or set down in
holy writ.

367. In verse 5, if instead of the reading swah, swa be adopted, the
meaning would be knowing that he would have to die. A Rohini is a red
cow. The words Samanga and Vahula are Vedic terms applied to the cow. The
Sandh; in vahuleti is arsha. The formula or Mantras that should be
uttered in actually giving away the kine occur in the scriptures.

368. The Commentator explains that gavadinam in the first line refers to
gopratindhinam. The second line is very terse. The sense is that at only
the eight step in the homeward journey of the recipient, all the merits
attaching to vicarious gift become his who gives an actual cow: what
need, therefore, be said of that merit when the recipient reaches home
and draws from the cow the means of worshipping his domestic fire,
entertaining his guests, etc?

369. Ashtami is the eighth day of the lunar fortnight. There must be two
Ashtamis in every lunar month. A particular Ashtami is known as the Kamya
or the Goshtha. On that day, kine are worshipped with sandalpaste,
vermilion, floral wreaths, etc.

370. Sikhi means a bull, so called from the hump it carries. The
construction is sikhi Vrishaiva etc,

371. A Kapila cow is one that gives a copious measure of milk whenever
she is milked, and is possessed of various other accomplishments and
virtues.

372. For without ghee, which is produced from milk, there can be no
sacrifice. The sa may refer to Soma, but sacrifice is evidently meant.

373. The idea of uchcchishta, is peculiarly Hindu and cannot be rendered
into any other language. Everything that forms the remnant of meal after
one has left of eating, is uchcchishta. The calf sucks its dam. The
udders, however, are not washed before milking the dam, for the milk
coming out of them is not held to be impure remnant.

374. Swastayana is a ceremony of propitiation, productive of blessing and
destructive of misery of every kind.

375. The commentator explains that by a wet cowhide is meant a piece of
cowhide that has been dipped in water and thus purified. Upavisya is
understood after Charmani. The mention of bhumau implies the avoidance of
dishes or plates or cups of white brass or other allowable metals. Gavam
pushtim, I understand, means 'the prosperity in respect of kine.' i.e.,
the prosperity which kine confer.

376. The first line of verse 4 seems to be connected with verse 3. The
second line of 4 seems to stand by itself. By connecting the first line
of 4 with the second, the meaning will be--All mobile and immobile
creatures that will give us away etc. Immobile creatures making gifts of
kine would be utter nonsense.

377. Vallaki is the Indian lute. The Nupura is an ornament for the ankles.

378. Bhumidah is literally, a giver of land. King Saudasa, the
commentator explains, was known by the name of Bhumidah in consequence of
his liberality in the matter of giving away land unto the Brahmanas.

379. These are the several names by which kine are known. The first is
probably derived from kine bearing the plough and thus assisting the
tillage of the soil. The second implies beauty of form. The third is
derived from the cow being regarded as the origin of all things in the
universe: all things, therefore, are only so many forms of the cow.
Viswarupa implies the same thing. Matara implies mothers, kine being
regarded as the mothers of all.

380. Ghee is regarded so sacred because of its use in sacrifices. It is
with the aid of ghee that the deities have become what they are. Itself
sacred, it is also cleansing at the same time.

381. Sri is the goddess of Prosperity. The answer of Bhishma will explain
the question fully.

382. Devendreshu is evidently a misreading for Daitendreshu.

383. The commentator explains that hence, by making gifts of gold, one
comes to be regarded as making gifts of the entire universe.

384. i.e., into water, for water is identical with Agni.

385. This refers to the practice of making the sacrificial fire by
rubbing two sticks of Sami. It is a very inflammable wood and is used
hence in all sacred rites.

386. Hiranyaretas implies having gold for his vital seed.

387. Vasumati implies endued with wealth, so called because the seed of
Agni, identified with gold, is wealth of the highest kind and fell on the
Earth who from that time began to hold it.

388. Skanda is derived from Skanna or fallen out. Guha implies secret.
The secrecy of his birth in the wilderness led to the bestowal of this
name. He has many other names.

389. Jatarupa refers to the incident of its having assumed an excellent
form after its birth from Agni.

390. The commentator explains,--Pravrittipradhanam jangamamabhut.

391. Sa guna refers to Sattwa. Tejas is identical with Buddhi, because
Buddhi, like Light, discovers all things. Sattwa, again, being of the
nature of space, or rather being space itself, is of universal form; that
is, Sattwa is all-pervading.

392. Avasatmaka is explained by the commentator as bhranta.

393. These are different names of Brahman and Mahadeva.

394. The 'hence' here does not refer to what preceded immediately, but
has reference to what has been said of the identity of Agni with Brahman
and Rudra.

395. Pravartakam implies leading to Pravritti for righteous acts or
Chittasuddhi.

396. The commentator explains that the Pitris should be worshipped on the
day of the New moon, the deities should then be worshipped on the first
day of the lighted fortnight. Or, on any other day of the lighted
fortnight, the Pitri-sacrifice or Sraddha should be performed first; the
Deva-sacrifice or Ishti should then be performed.

397. Anwaharyam, the commentator explains, is paschatkartavyam, i.e.,
subsequently performable (subsequent, i.e., to the worship of the gods).
There is a special ordinance, however, which lays down that the Sraddha
should be performed on the afternoon of the day of the new moon. The gods
should be adored on the first day of the lighted fortnight. Hence, owing
to this especial ordinance, the Sraddha must precede the worship of the
gods, and not succeed it.

398. Masha, is the Phascolus Roxburghii.

399. It is difficult to understand what is meant by Vadhrinasa here. It
means either a large bull, or a kind of bird, or a variety of the goat.
Probably the bull is intended.

400. Pitrikshaye is mrita-tithau. Kalasaka is explained by Nilakantha as
identical with the common potherb called Shuka or the country sorrel
(Rumex visicarius, Linn). Some hold that it is something like the sorrel,
Lauham is the petals of the Kanchana flower (Bauhinia acuminata, Linn).

401. To this day the sanctity of Gaya is universally recognised by all
Hindus. Sraddhas are performed there under the banian called the Akshaya
or inexhaustible banian.

402. All religious acts are either nitya or kamya. The former imply acts
that are obligatory and by doing which no particular merit is acquired
but by not doing which sin is incurred. The latter imply those optional
acts which, if done, produce merit but which, if omitted, leads to no sin.

403. Literally, 'set in motion a body of kings,' i.e., become an
Overlord."

404. When Brahmanas are fed, they are made to sit in long lines. They
that are stained with vices are excluded from the line. Such exclusion
from the line is regarded as equal to complete outlawry.

405. i.e., who have undergone a natural circumcision

406. Implying soothsayers.

407. This is a common form of expression to imply the fruitlessness of an
act. Libations should be poured on the blazing fire. If poured on the
ashes, they lead to no merit, for only Agni in his blazing form can bear
them to the intended places.

408. The idea is that heaven is the result of one's deeds. It is attached
to the fruits of one's acts. The man falling off from heaven is identical
with heaven being dissociated from the fruits of his acts. Hence such a
falling off at the man or the dissociation of heaven is likened to a
bird's dissociation from its perch when the chain tying it to the perch
is broken. The simile seems to be far-fetched.

409. It is painful to see how very careless the Vernacular versions of
the Anusasana have been. From want of space the numerous errors that have
been committed have not been pointed out, At times, however, the errors
appear to be so grave that one cannot pass them by in silence. In the
second half of the first line, whether the reading be avapta as in the
Bengal texts or chavapta as in the Bombay texts, the meaning is that the
Avapta or one that has not sown na vijabhagam prapnuyat, i.e., would not
get a share of the produce. The Burdwan translators make a mess of it,
while K. P. Singha skips over it.

410. The sense is that the calumniator, his sire, and son meet with
destruction in consequence of such an act.

411. These purificatory rites, after the usual period of mourning,
consists in shaving and bathing and wearing new clothes.

412. The act, as explained by the commentator, consisted in the father's
doing that with reference to the son which, as the ordinance went, was
done by sons with reference to sires.

413. In one of the vernacular versions, the wrong reading Kshama is
adopted for Akshaya.

414. Ravana and other Rakshasas who spring from Pulastya's line are known
as Brahma-Rakshasas or Rakshasas of regenerate origin.

415. i.e., that fast which mortifies the body is not to be regarded as
equivalent to penance. True penance is something else. An observer of
such a fast is not to be regarded as an ascetic. Such fasts, again, are
sinful instead of being meritorious.

416. By Upavasa in the second line is meant abstention from food between
the two prescribed hours for eating, and not that fast which mortifies
the body. One may, again, eat the most luxurious food without being
attached to it. One also, by repining at one's abstinence, may come to be
regarded as actually enjoying the most luxurious food.

417. Meat of animals slaughtered in sacrifices is allowable. By taking
such meat, one does not become an eater of meat. In fact, one may etc.

418. Prashthauhi means a cow pregnant with her second calf. Grishti means
a cow that has brought forth only her first calf.

419. 'The commentator explains that the direction about ascertaining the
names of the Rishis and the meanings of those names proceed from the
kings' desire of cautioning the Rakshasi lest in going to destroy them
she might herself meet with destruction.

420. In other words, Vasishtha attributes the leanness or emaciation of
himself and his companions to the failure to discharge their daily rites
of religious practice.

421. Lotus-stalks are eaten in India and are mentioned by Charaka as
heavy food.

422. Sunahsakha implies a friend of dogs. The newcomer who had joined the
roving Rishis had a dog with him. Hence, he is called by the name of
Sunahsakha.

423. Brahma-danda literally means the stick in the hand of a Brahmana.
Figuratively, it implies the chastisement inflicted by a Brahmana in the
form of a curse. As such it is more effective than the thunderbolt in the
hands of Indra himself, for the thunderbolt blasts only those objects
that lie within its immediate range. The Brahmana's curse, however,
blasts even those that are unborn.

424. Libations should always be poured upon a blazing fire. Fire made
with dry grass or straw blaze up quickly and become soon extinguished. By
pouring libations, therefore, upon such fires, one practically pours them
upon ashes and gains no merit.

425. To derive the means of sustenance from a wife was always viewed with
feelings of aversion in this country. It seems, therefore, that the
custom of domesticating sons-in-law was not unknown in ancient times. To
receive acts of hospitality in return for those rendered was regarded as
not only meanness but also destructive of merit.

426. Jnatinam is an instance of the genitive in what is called Anadara.
The meaning, therefore, is disregarded them. For a Brahmana woman to
bring forth a son devoted to heroic deeds is a reproach.

427. The scriptures declare that Righteousness loses its strength as Time
advances. In the Krita age, it exists in entirety. In the Treta, it loses
a quarter. In the Dwapara, another quarter is lost. In the Kali age, full
three quarters are lost and only a quarter is all that remains.

428. The Rishis think that the distinctions between the lower, the
middling, and the higher classes of society are eternal, and nothing can
be a greater calamity than the effacement of those distinctions. Equality
of men, in their eyes, is an unmitigated evil.

429. Forgiveness is the duty of the Brahmana. To fall off from
forgiveness is to fall off from duty. To censure when censured and assail
the assailer, are grave transgressions in the case of a Brahmana. The
idea of retaliation should never enter the Brahmana's heart; for the
Brahmana is the friend of the universe. His behaviour to friend and foe
should be equal. To eat the flesh that attaches itself to the back-bone
of a slaughtered animal is also a grave transgression.

430. A religious mendicant should always wander over the Earth, sleeping
where night overtakes him. For such a man to reside in a city or town is
sinful.

431. To till the soil is a transgression for a Brahmana.

432. Good food should never be taken alone. It should always be shared
with children and servants.

433. A village having only one well should be abandoned by a Brahmana,
for he should not draw water from such a well which is used by all
classes of the population.

434. The penance that is involved in standing on one foot should be
practised, like all other penances, in the woods. To practise a penance
on the way leading to a village so that people may be induced to make
gifts, is a transgression of a grave kind.

435. Some kine that are vicious have their hind legs tied with a rope
while they are milked. If the rope be made of human hair, the pain felt
is supposed to be very great. To obtain the aid of a calf belonging to
another cow is regarded as sinful. To the cow also, the process of
sucking cannot be agreeable. If the milk is held in a vessel of white
brass, it becomes unfit for gods and guests.

436. The discourse is called eternal and immutable because of its subject
being so. Duties are eternal truths.

437. This discourse on duties delivered by the Rishis is called a Sastra.
Literally, anything that governs men, i.e., regulates their behaviour, is
called a Sastra. As such, the enumeration of duties occurring in this
Lesson, although it has been made by a reference to their breaches, is
therefore, a Sastra.

438. Literally, they who cook for dogs, i.e., keep dogs a, companions;
meaning members of the lowest caste.

439. The commentator takes Tapah or Penance as indicative of the duties
of the four orders of life, and Dharma as indicative of compassion and
other virtues.