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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




61. i.e., as noisy or noiseless.

62. I have given as close a verbal rendering of the passage as possible.
The sense, however, is not very intelligible to me. The gloss of
Nilakantha is as unintelligible as the text. Telang also has given a
verbal rendering which differs from the above slightly. His foot-notes do
not, I think, bring out the meaning at all. As regards the two vernacular
versions, both are useless.

63. The correct reading is cha after arthan and not twam after it. Hence,
the Senses say that, without ourselves and without those which are our
objects, thou canst not have thy enjoyments.'

64. Thus creatures may exist through us, even though mind may be out of
order.

65. Both mental purposes and dreams having failed to gratify him.

66. The reading sarvam in the second line is incorrect, though Nilakantha
adopts it. The different portions of the fire are indicated as the
different attributes. The smoke is of the form of Darkness (Tamas): the
ashes are the attributes of Passion; while the blazing flame, that into
which the oblation is thrown, is the attribute of Goodness.

67. I give a close rendering of these verses, without endeavouring to
bring out the sense as explained by the commentators. The printed texts
are not correct. The text adopted by Nilakantha differs from that of
Arjuna Misra. The very order of the verses is not uniform in all the
texts.

68. 'These' refers to action, agent and instrument. The qualities of
which they are possessed are goodness, passion, and darkness.

69. What is stated in these two verses is this: it is the Senses that
enjoy; and not the Soul. This is well known to those that are learned. On
the other hand, those that are not learned, regard this or that to be
theirs, when in reality they are different from them. They are their
selves, and not their senses, although they take themselves for the
latter, ignorantly identifying themselves with things which they are not.

70. What is stated here is this: Restraining the senses and the mind, the
objects of those senses and the mind should be poured as libations on the
sacred fire of the Soul that is within the body.

71. i.e., truth is the Sastra of the Prasastri.

72. Narayana is taken by Nilakantha to stand here for either the Veda or
the Soul. The animals offered up to Narayana in days of old were the
senses offered up as sacrifices.

73. Srota here means preceptor or dispeller of doubts. Amaratwam is the
status of the immortal head of all.

74. I think Telang is not correct in his rendering of this verse. What is
stated here is plain, viz., that it is He who is the preceptor and the
disciple. Ayam srinoti,--'prochyamanam grihnati,--'tat prichcchatah ato
bhuyas anye srinanti is the grammar of the construction. The conclusion
then comes--'gururanyo na vidyate'.

75. One who understands the truth.

76. The seven large trees are the five senses, the mind, and the
understanding. The fruits are the pleasures and pains derived from or
through them. The guests are the powers of each sense, for it is they
that receive those pleasures and pains. The hermitages are those very
trees under which the guests take shelter. The seven forms of Yoga are
the extinctions of the seven senses. The seven forms of initiation are
the repudiation, one after another, of the actions of the seven senses.

77. The correct reading is bhavantyanityah and vahuswabhavan.

78. Swabhava is explained by Nilakantha as sutaram abhava.

79. The sense seems to be this; the life-winds indicate the operations of
the several organs of action: the tongue, which stands here for all the
organs of perception, of the sensual perceptions; the mind, of all the
internal operations; the quality of goodness, of all pleasure; and the
quality of passion, of all kinds of pain. These, therefore include the
whole external and the internal worlds. He that is free from these,
transcends sin, for sin is destroyed by freedom from these, knowledge
being the means of attaining to that freedom.

80. 'I have no fault etc.'--The sense seems to be that by doing these
rites with the aid of Mantras I have done that which has been approved
from ages past by those who have always been regarded wise. My eyes,
however, have now been opened by thee. I should not be held responsible
for what I did while I was ignorant.

81. Kshatriyas always require Brahmanas for assisting them in their acts.
These particular Kshatriyas, through fear of Rama, fled to the forests
and mountains. They could not, accordingly, find Brahmanas for assisting
them. Their children, therefore, fell away from the status of Kshatriyas
and became Vrishalas or Sudras.

82. Kshatriya-bandhu always implies low or inferior Kshatriyas, as
Brahma-bandhu implies low or inferior Brahmanas. The expression, very
probably, is similar to Brahman-sangat in current Bengali. It does not
surely mean 'kinsmen of Kshatriyas'.

83. The vocative, 'O foremost of regenerate ones' applies to Jamadagni's
son. The narration is that of the Pitris. All the copies, however,
represent this as the Brahmana's speech to his wife. Indeed, the Brahmana
is only reciting to his wife the speech of the Pitris to Rama. The Yoga
here spoken of is, as Nilakantha explains the Raja-Yoga. Previously,
Alarka had been bent upon Hatha-Yoga which frequently ends in the
destruction of the person practising it.

84. Praharsha, rendered 'exultation', is explained by Nilakantha as the
joy that is felt at the certainty of attaining what is desired. Priti is
that satisfaction which is felt when the object desired is attained.
Ananda is what arises while enjoying the attained object.

85. The sense seems to be this. Having first conquered the internal foes
mentioned, the man of intelligence, bent on effecting his deliverance,
should then seek to vanquish all external foes standing in his way.

86. Nilakantha explains that dosha here refers to attachment, cupidity
and the rest; while Sadhu implies not men but the virtues of tranquillity
and the rest.

87. think Telang renders this verse wrongly. Samhatadehabandhanah does
not mean 'with bodily frame destroyed' but 'with bodily frame united.' If
samhata be taken as destroyed, the compound bhinna-vikirna-dehah in the
second line would be a useless repetition. The meaning is that with
bodily frame or the bonds of body united, he takes birth. When he dies,
that frame becomes dismembered and scattered.

88. The conditions referred to are affluence and indigence, as explained
by Nilakantha.

89. This is, rather, obscure. Nilakantha observes that the Vedic text
referred to is: 'Do not covet anybody's property.' What Janaka says seems
to be this: Thinking of this prohibition about coveting other people's
property, I thought how could it be ascertained what belongs to others.

90. The sense seems to be this: the property of smell attaches to earth.
I do not desire smell for my own enjoyment. If it is perceived, it is
perceived by the organ of smell. The earth, therefore, is subject to me,
not I to the earth. I have transcended my sensations, and, therefore, the
objects to which they inhere. The whole world represents only the objects
of the sensations. The latter being mastered, the whole world has been
mastered by me.

91. i.e., I live and act for these and not my own self.

92. Nilakantha's reading is erroneous, Brahma-labhasya should be
Brahmana-bhasya. So also durvarasya is incorrect. Nemi may also mean the
line or track that is made by a wheel as it moves. If taken in this
sense, it would mean 'that is confined to, or that cannot deviate from
the track constituted by goodness'. The nave, Brahman, is, of course, the
Vedas.

93. The sense seems to be this. The sovereignty of the whole Earth or of
Heaven, and this knowledge of my identity with the universe--of these two
alternatives, I would freely choose the latter. Hence, he says--'This
knowledge is my wealth.'

94. These are different modes of life.

95. The sense is this: the knowledge to be acquired is that all is one.
Diverse ways there are for acquiring it. Those, again, that have attained
to tranquillity have acquired it.

96. Actions are perishable and can lead to no lasting result. It is by
the understanding that that knowledge, leading to what is permanent, is
to be attained.

97. I expand this verse a little for making it intelligible. A literal
version would run as follows: Good means may be seen, perceived as by
bees. Action is (cleansed) understanding; through folly it is invested
with the symbols of knowledge. Karmabudhhi never means 'action and
knowledge' as rendered by Telang. Abudhitwatt means 'through ignorance.'
This ignorance is of those persons whose understandings have not been
cleansed by action.

98. What is stated here is this. In the matter of achieving Emancipation,
no ordinances have been laid down, positive or negative, like those in
respect of other things. If one wishes to attain to Heaven, he should do
this and abstain from the other. For achieving Emancipation, however,
only seeing and hearing are prescribed. Seeing implies contemplation, and
hearing, the receiving of instructions from the preceptor. Nilakantha
explains hearing as Vedantadisravanam (vide his comment on the word
'srutam' in verse 3 above).

99. The speaker wishes to inculcate that one should first contemplate an
object of direct perception, such as earth, etc. Then on such
'unperceived' objects as operations of the mind. Such contemplation will
gradually lead to that which is Supreme. The abhyasa or practice referred
to in the second line is the practice of sama, dama, etc. I do not think
that Telang's version of 8 and 9 brings out the meaning clearly.

100. The sense is that when her individual soul became merged into the
Supreme soul, she became identified with Brahman. This, was, of course,
due to the knowledge of Kshetra as something separate from Kshetrajna.

101. Their origin is Brahman or Truth. They live, dissociated from their
origin, in consequence of their acts. When their acts cease, they return
to and become merged in Brahman.

102. i.e., that course of life which has for its object the acquisition
of knowledge relating to the soul. This, of course, includes the
knowledge that is needed for achieving identification with the Supreme
Soul or Brahman.

103. The specific characteristics of the five elements are, as frequently
referred before, smell attaching to earth, sound to ether, taste, to
water, etc. The deities referred to in the last verse are probably the
senses.

104. The total eleven is made up of the three qualities, the five
elements, the group of organs and senses as one, egoism and understanding.

105. Anyatha pratipannah is explained by Nilakantha as 'born in other
orders'. Telang takes it as 'Behaving in a contrary way.' 'How can goats
and sheep behave otherwise?' The sense seems to be that those born as
goats, succeed in ascending upwards through the efficacy of the religious
acts of the Brahmanas. By becoming sacrificial victims they regain their
true position.

106. Qualities abiding in Darkness etc, imply those qualities that are
permanently attached to Darkness.

107. Some texts read Santapah and not Sanghatah. The meaning then will be
grief or sorrow.

108. This may refer to the exposure of other people's weaknesses by
tearing open their veils or covers.

109. Vibhajanti implies enjoyments in this connection. Telang starts a
needless objection to this word.

110. 'From even a distance.' implies that upon even a cursory view;
without even being examined minutely.

111. What is said here is this: the three qualities exist in even the
immobile objects of the universe. As regards Darkness, it predominates in
them. As regards Passion, it dwells in such properties of theirs as
pungency, sourness, sweetness, etc, which change with time or in
consequence of cooking or through admixture. Their only properties are
said to appertain to Goodness. Tiryagbhavagatam is explained by
Nilakantha as adhikyam gatam. Telang thinks this is unwarrantable. His
own version, however, of the first line is untenable. What can be the
tiryagbhava or 'form of lower species' of immobile objects? Telang
frequently forgets that Nilakantha represents a school of interpretation
not founded by him but which existed from a time long anterior to him.

112. 'Conjunctions' are evidently the periods joining the seasons, i.e.,
the close of one season and the beginning of another.

113. This probably implies that the mind, through the aid of the senses,
enters into all things or succeeds in knowing them.

114. The sense seems to be that through these one succeeds in taking
birth as a Brahmana.

115. A repetition occurs here of about 5 verses. The passage is evidently
an interpolation originally caused by carelessness.

116. Nilakantha explains that this implies that one should regard these
as really undistinguished from the mind. Indeed, created by the mind
itself, these should always be taken as having no real existence beyond
the mind.

117. 'That' here refers to the attenuation of all things by absorption
into the mind.

118. Gunagunam is treating the qualities as not qualities; i.e.,
regarding bravery, magnanimity, etc, as really not merits, for these lead
to pride. Ekacharyyam is ekantavasam, i.e., life in seclusion, or living
without depending upon others. Anantaram is nirastasamastabheda or
non-recognition of all distinctions. Some texts read Brahmamatah meaning
'existing among Brahmanas'. Ekapadam sukham is samastasukhagarbham, i.e.,
the source or fountain of all happiness.

119. The two deities are Jiva and Iswara.

120. The correct reading, in 53 seems to be samsargabhiratam and not
samsayabhiratam.

121. In the second line, the correct words are martya and sarva. The
sense of the second line seems to be that this body is ceaselessly
revolving, for Emancipation is difficult to achieve. Hence this body is,
as it were, the wheel of Time. Nilakantha's explanation does not seem to
be satisfactory.

122. I do not think that Telang is correct in his version of this verse.
What is said here seems to be this. The body is, as it were the wheel of
Time; the body is the ocean of delusion; the body is the creator,
destroyer and reawakener of the universe. Through the body creatures act,
and hence creation, destruction, and re-creation are due to the body.
This accords with what is said elsewhere regarding the body.

123. It would be wrong to take satah as implying 'the good,' the finite
verses in every text being singular.

124. The correct reading seems to be atmana as the last word of the first
line, and not atman.

125. What is said here is that the quality of passion predominates in
these.

126. Nyagrodha is the Ficus Bengalensis, Linn. Jamvu is Eugenia
Jambolana, Lamk. Pippala is Ficus religiosa, Linn. Salmali is Bombax
Malabaricum. Sinsapa is Dalbergia Sissoo, Roxb. Meshasringa is Asclepia
geminata, Roxb. Kichaka is a variety of mountain bamboo. Here however it
evidently implies the Nimba or Melia Azadirachta, Linn.

127. Nilakantha is for taking the second line as consisting of two
propositions. It would be better to take satinam as referring to strinam,
and vasumatyah, as an adjective of Apsarasah.

128. The sense seems to be that good men never allow others to know what
their acts are. They are strangers to ostentation.

129. The sense seems to be that the knowledge of one's own identity and
of things as discriminated from one another is presided over by Prakriti.
If the question is asked whence is the knowledge--'I am so,' and that
'this is so,' the answer is that it comes from Prakriti or Nature.

130. As explained by Nilakantha, the word Savitri is used here to imply
all forms of worship observed by Brahmanas, etc, and the Mlecchas as
well. This turning back to explain a word used before is said to be an
instance of "looking back like the lion".

131. Telang, I think, renders this verse wrongly. In the first line it is
said that Brahman is superior to the Prajapatis. In the second it is
pointed out that Vishnu is superior to Brahman.

132. It is difficult to understand which part of the wheel is intended to
be expressedly 'bandhanam' or the bond; I take it for the spokes.
Pariskandha is Samuha or the materials that together compose an object.
Here it may be taken for the nave or centre. Home is called the
circumference, because, as the circumference limits the wheel, even so
home (wife and children) limits the affections and acts of life.

133. The words Kalachakram pravartate have been rendered in the first
verse of this lesson. In verse 9, the words asaktaprabhavapavyam are
explained by Nilakantha differently. Manas-krantam, I take, is equivalent
to 'be bounded by the mind,' I do not know whence Telang gets 'never
fatigued' as the substitute of this word.

134. Implying that he should go to the house of his preceptor, study and
serve there, and after completing his course, return for leading a life
of domesticity.

135. The sense seems to be that these last three duties are productive of
merit and should, therefore, be performed. The first three however, are
sources of living.

136. Havishya is food cooked in a particular way and offered to the
deities. It must be free from meat. There may be milk or ghee in it, but
the cooking must be done in a single pot or vessel continuously; no
change of vessels is allowed.

137. Vilwa is the Aegle marmelos, and Palasa is the Butea frondosa of
Roxburgh.

138. At first he should live on fruits and roots and leaves, etc. Next on
water, and then on air. There are different sects of forests recluses.
The course of life is settled at the time of the initiatory rites.

139. What is stated here is this. The Sannyasin should not ask for alms:
or, if he ever seeks for aims, he should seek them in a village or house
where the cooking has been already done and where every one has already
eaten. This limitation is provided as otherwise the Sannyasin may be fed
to his fill by the householder who sees him.

140. He should never plunge into a stream or lake or tank for bathing.

141. Kalakankhi implies, probably 'simply biding time', i.e., allowing
time to pass indifferently over him.

142. The sense seems to be this; the self or soul is without qualities.
He who knows the self, or rather he who pursues the self with the desire
of knowing it, should practise the truths of Piety laid down above. They
constitute the path that leads to the self.

143. 'That which has Brahman for its origin' implies the Vedas.

144. Commentators differ about what is implied by the ten or the twelve.
Nilakantha thinks that the ten mean the eight characteristics of Yoga,
viz., Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana,
Samadhi, and Tarka and Vairagya. The twelve would imply the first eight,
and these four, viz., Maitri, Karuna, Mudita, and Upeksha. If ten plus
twelve or two and twenty be taken, then that number would be made up by
the five modes of Yama, the five of Niyama, the remaining six of Yoga
(beginning with Asana and ending with Samadhi), the four beginning with
Maitri, and the two, viz., Tarka and Vairagya.

145. What is said in this Lesson seems to be this: the Unmanifest or
Prakriti is that condition in which all the three qualities of Goodness,
Passion, and Darkness exist in a state of combination. The unmanifest is
the condition existing before creation. When one particular quality,
viz., Goodness prevails over the others, there arises Purusha, viz., that
from whom everything flows. The relation of Purusha and Nature is both
unity and diversity. The three illustrations of the Gnat and the Udumbara
the fish and water, and water drops and the lotus leaf, explain the
relation between Purusha and Nature. He is in Nature, yet different from
it. There is both association and dissociation.

146. The doubts appertain to duties, that is whether they should be done
or not, and whether they have any effects here and hereafter.

147. The thinking or enjoying agent is subject, and that which is thought
or enjoyed is object. Subject and object an two well known words in Sir
W. Hamilton's philosophy. I follow Telang in adopting them.

148. Sattawa pradipa, rendered 'light of Nature,' implies, as Nilakantha
explains, knowledge, which is a manifestation of Nature. Arjuna Misra's
interpretation seems to be better. He says that knowledge,--that is,
knowledge of truth,--is acquired by the self through Nature.

149. The sense seems to be this: one who proceeds, on a journey must
provide oneself with the necessary means, otherwise one is sure to feel
discomfort or meet with even destruction. So, in the journey of life, one
must provide oneself with knowledge as the means. One may then avoid all
discomfort and danger. Action does not constitute the proper means. It
may or may not produce fruits.

150. i.e., one should not care for the external.

151. i.e., one need not do acts enjoined by the scriptures after one has
attained to knowledge which is the highest seat.

152. The sense is this: riding on a car may not always be comfortable. As
long as there is a car path, one should travel on one's car. If, however,
the road be such as not to be fit for a car to proceed along it, one
should avoid a car in going over it, for the car instead of conducing to
comfort, would, on such a path, be productive of only discomfort.

153. i.e., first action with desire: then action without desire; then
knowledge, according to Arjuna Misra. Nilakantha explains that action is
first, then Yoga; then the state of Hansa or Paramahansa.

154. Katu is not bitter but pungent or sharp, as that which is attached
to chillies.

155. These are the notes of the Hindu Gamut.

156. The understanding operates on what is placed before it by the mind.
The understanding, therefore, is, as it were, the lord exercising power
or sovereignty, being served by the mind.

157. Sarvan srijati i.e., creates all things by attaining to the
condition of the universal cause, for the unmanifest is the universal
cause. Between such a one and the Supreme Soul there is no difference.
Even this is said in the last sentence.

158. The man who reads the book called Veda is not truly conversant with
the Veda. He, however, who knows Kshetrajna, is regarded as truly knowing
the Veda.

159. The argument is that Mrityu or death being of two syllables, the
correspondence is justifiable between it and Mama or mineness which also
is of two syllables. So in the case of Brahman and na-mama. Of course,
what is meant by mineness being death and not-mineness being Brahman or
emancipation, cannot be unintelligible to one who has carefully read the
preceding sections.

160. i.e., the five great elements, four organs of knowledge with mind,
and the four organs of action.

161. The word Purusha here is used in the sense of dehabhimani Jiva or
individual self with consciousness of body. True knowledge destroys this
condition of Jiva, for the man of knowledge identifies himself with the
universe and thereby assimilates himself to Brahman. By eaters of Amrita
are meant they who never take any food without offering portions thereof
to the deities, Pitris, and guests. Of course, Yogins of piety are
implied by it.

162. Purusha here implies Jiva divested of consciousness of body.

163. The meaning is this: in a dream what is seen is all unreal. So, when
tranquillity has been attained, all the surroundings become unreal.
Nilakantha gives a slightly different interpretation; it is this: when
tranquillity has been attained, the Soul lives without attachment to the
body and all external objects. Indeed, the Soul then lives completely in
itself even as it works in course of a dream.

164. The sense is that they behold all worldly objects, present, past and
future, which are, of course, due to development of previous causes.

165. This line is rather obscure. The sense seems to be this: no one can
know the Supreme Deity if it is not the latter's pleasure to be known.
One, therefore, understands Him in exactly that measure in which it is
His pleasure to be known.

166. Krishna's father Vasudeva is maternal uncle. Yudhishthira asks
Krishna to worship Vasudeva and Valadeva on his behalf, i.e., he charges
Krishna to bear to them a message of respect and love from him.

167. The city of Hastinapura is sometimes called Nagapura, both Hasti and
Naga being words expressive of the elephant. 'The city called after the
elephant' is the usual description of the Kuru capital.

168. Mahyam is equal to 'mam uddisya' i.e., referring to my divine nature.

169. An ascetic loses his penances by cursing another rightly or wrongly.
Hence, forgiveness was always practised by the Brahmanas who were
ascetics. A Brahmana's strength consisted in forgiveness. The more
forgiving he was, the more powerful he became.

170. The first asat or non-existent refers to such objects as the horns
of the hare. The second, viz., sadasat, or existent and non-existent
refers to such objects as exist and meet with destruction. Sadasat param
or that which transcends the existent and non-existent, refers to the
unmanifest. The universe consists of these three. All this is from
Vasudeva.

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