Mahabharata: Volume 8 (95 page)
Read Mahabharata: Volume 8 Online
Authors: Bibek Debroy
244
Only some have truly renounced and have seen the light. Others are still ignorant.
245
Brahma.
246
Birth, death, old age and decay.
247
Literally, extinction. Being used synonymously with moksha.
248
The objective being moksha. The three modes are dharma, artha and kama.
249
Yudhishthira.
250
Yudhishthira.
251
Bhishma.
252
A red woolen garment does not change its colour easily.
253
The brahmana.
254
It was not torn off from an old piece of cloth.
255
The brahmana’s name.
256
Being used as a proper name for the bandit, or indicating that the bandit was a hunter.
257
As Goutama.
258
Indra’s pleasure garden.
259
The bharunda bird is a mythical predatory bird with two heads.
260
A bird that lives off carrion. It picks out bits of meat from the mouths of predators.
261
Brahma’s.
262
He wished to kill the bird for food.
263
Dakshayani means Daksha’s daughter. The sage Kashyapa was married to several of Daksha’s daughters and all beings are descended from them.
264
Descended from Kashyapa.
265
Rajadharma asked Goutama.
266
The rakshasas are descended from the sage Kashyapa.
267
October–November.
268
The moon.
269
Respectively, June–July and January–February.
270
Virupaksha.
271
Accounts of creation vary. In some, Surabhi is one of Daksha’s daughters. She was married to Kashyapa and gave birth to cattle. Surabhi is also a celestial cow.
272
The load of gold.
273
Because the wife had been married to someone else earlier.
1
The son.
2
The others have an illusory sense of owning her. One should not sorrow because of an illusory sense of ownership.
3
This is a reference to the four states of consciousness—wakefulness (
jagrata
), dreaming (
svapna
), deep sleep (
sushupti
) and pure consciousness (turiya). The wise take delight in wakefulness and pure consciousness, not in dreaming or deep sleep. While the earlier sentence has a reference to the most foolish, it is possible that this is meant to represent the statement of wakefulness, while supreme intelligence is equated with pure consciousness.
4
Like happiness and unhappiness, pleasure and pain.
5
Of elders, seniors and preceptors.
6
The brahman.
7
Desire.
8
The body is the pillar and the nine gates are two eyes, two ears, one mouth, two nostrils, one anus and the genitals. It will be covered with knowledge.
9
Meaning the brahman. The text does not have a gender. But it is difficult to translate this without using the gender.
10
Human lovers.
11
The word
medhavin
also means learned or intelligent.
12
That is, death touches everyone.
13
Instead of going through the four ashramas, which is what the father had suggested.
14
There is a problem with the text of the Critical edition. It says
devaanam
(belonging to the gods), which makes it impossible to understand it. We have taken it as
devanam
and interpreted it as pleasure.
15
The first atman is the jivatman and the second atman is the paramatman, the brahman.
16
Meaning, the brahman. He will shun the standard prescription of first having offspring before embarking on vanaprastha and sannyasa.
17
Reiterating the point that they are mortal.
18
Conveyed by an external force, destiny.
19
But have desire.
20
Probably beauty, wealth and nobility, success not being an independent reason.
21
The pursuit of desire.
22
It is not clear where the quote from Shamyaka ends. It is possible that the quote ended earlier and the rest of it was spoken by the brahmana.
23
Required for performing the sacrifices and rites.
24
For possessions and objects of desire.
25
That is, to train them in being controlled.
26
This shloka is not very clear and the translation is somewhat contrived. There is a nuance that the translation doesn’t also capture. The text uses the word
kakataliya
, which means accident, and there is a story around this. A crow (kaka) sat on a palm-tree and a ripe palm fruit (tala) fell down. The fruit fell down because it was ripe and had nothing to do with the crow. But this accidental or coincidental fall is mistakenly ascribed to the crow sitting on the tree.
27
The famous Shuka is Vedavyasa’s son. The insertion of a quote ascribed to Shuka therefore suggests a later interpolation.
28
The text does not indicate it clearly. But this seems to be the end of the Shuka quote and it is Manki speaking again.
29
Manki is addressing himself and his soul.
30
Desire.
31
Since Manki has renounced desire, desire can do whatever it wants.
32
Any other sentiments.
33
Addressing himself.
34
Usually, six enemies are mentioned and kama (desire) is one of the six. Since desire has been mentioned as the seventh, the other six are probably the five senses and the mind.
35
Mithila was the capital of Videha. This King Janaka is different from the King Janaka who was Sita’s father.
36
By excising shlokas, the Critical edition leaves this dangling. Pingala was a prostitute who turned to asceticism after being spurned by her lover. If an osprey desires meat and finds it, other ospreys snatch that piece of meat away. However, there was an osprey that did not desire any meat and was happy. The preceptor is that osprey. A snake is happy and worthy of emulation because it does not try to make a house for itself, but lives in someone else’s house instead. The bee searching for honey in the forest does not harm anyone. There is a story about a person who made arrows. He was so busy in his work that he didn’t even notice that the king was passing. There is a story about a maiden who roamed alone. Since she did not consort with others, there was no scope of a quarrel.
37
Ajagara is the boa constrictor, the python. The belief is that the python does not strive for food, but eats whatever comes to it. If food does not come before a python, it starves.
38
The image of the python.
39
Of giving up your life.
40
By constructing shelters.
41
Lacking in teeth.
42
After rebirth.
43
Since a brahmana cannot become a king and the status of a brahmana is superior to that of a god.
44
Desire.
45
The liquor and the flesh of the bird respectively. The brahmana has not tasted these.
46
These terms are often used as synonyms. Pedantically, a chandala is the son of a brahmana mother and a shudra father. A pulkasa (equivalently
pukkasa
) is the son of a nishada father and a shudra mother.
47
In an earlier life.
48
Indra.
49
We have translated this as correct. Literally, the text translates as those who are situated on the right (as opposed to the left) side.
50
Alternatively, white ants or bees.
51
A dirty piece of cloth is cleaned by washing.
52
Something connected with the mind or thought. In this context, created from the mind.
53
The one who is not manifest.
54
The great one.
55
Space.
56
Meaning Manasa.
57
Ahamkara
is usually ego and pride. In this context, a better explanation is that Brahma said, ‘Aham’. ‘I am he.’
58
The text uses the word devas. Here, this doesn’t mean gods, but means shining or stellar bodies.
59
Strictly speaking, rasatala. There are seven nether regions—
atala
,
vitala
,
sutala
, rasatala,
talatala
,
mahatala
and
patala.
60
Fire, air, earth, water and space (sky), known as
mahabhuta
s, the great elements.
61
Hearing is equated with space, smell with earth, taste with water, touch with air and sight with fire.
62
In pranayama, the breath of life is prana and this has five actions—prana (exhalation), apana (downward inhalation), vyana (diffusion through the body), udana (upward inhalation) and samana (digestive breath).
63
With the exception of nirhari, respectively, agreeable, disagreeable, sweet, bitter, composite, gentle, rough and clear. The meaning of nirhari is unclear and probably means a scent that can be smelt from a long distance.
64
Sa-re-ga-ma-pa-dha-ni.
65
Each of the senses.
66
Prana, samana and apana.
67
Probably meaning the five kinds of breaths of life and the five elements.
68
The main channel.
69
Bharadvaja’s questions in this chapter are sometimes difficult to translate. But they lead up to the point that life is more than the five elements.
70
They lose their independent existence.
71
The text uses the word
panchatva
. This simply means death, that is, when the body is separated into the five elements.
72
The donation of cattle.
73
The water and the earth.
74
The five elements.
75
The five organs of action.
76
The five senses.
77
The atman is the kshetrajna, the one who knows the field. The field (kshetra) is the body.
78
The atman.
79
The supreme one is the brahman or the paramatman. There are actually fourteen worlds (
loka
s), seven above and seven below. This is a reference to the seven above—
bhurloka, kharloka, svarloka, maharloka, janarloka, taparloka
and
satyaloka (brahmaloka).
80
The text states death in an interesting way, not even using panchatva, but saying
dashardhatva
(half of ten) instead.
81
These were the original rishis.
82
It is possible that this is meant to be taken figuratively and not literally. Brahmanas possessed the sattva quality, kshatriyas possessed the rajas quality, vaishyas possessed a combination of sattva and rajas and shudras possessed the tamas quality.
83
All the four varnas have a right to these.
84
The apparent inconsistency is presumably resolved in the following way. Brahma originally created the first rishis through his mental powers. The others were directly born from them and were indirectly created by Brahma.
85
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).
86
Teaching, studying, donating, receiving gifts, performing sacrifices and officiating at the sacrifices of others.
87
Fighting.
88
From wrongdoers and for the purpose of donations.
89
In this world and in the next.
90
This is a reference to the linga-sharira, the subtle body. When the physical body is destroyed, the linga-sharira remains. When the linga-sharira is destroyed, one merges with the brahman.
