Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (76 page)

³⁵⁸
The word
prabhava
can also be translated as strength, instead of origin.

³⁵⁹
Alternatively, on earth.

³⁶⁰
Equality across all beings and across all sentiments.

³⁶¹
There are two listings of the seven great sages (saptarshis), with a large degree of overlap. The first list is Marichi, Angirasa, Atri, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Vashishtha. The second list is Bhrigu, Marichi, Atri, Angira, Pulaha, Pulastya and Kratu.

³⁶²
Who are the four who came before the seven great sages? This causes problems of interpretation. Usually, commentators take this to mean the four great sages Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanatkumara, who preceded the saptarshis. However, these sages never married and talk of their descendants doesn’t quite make sense. Therefore, this is sometimes interpreted in a metaphorical sense. That is, these four are the four manifestations (
murti
or vyuha) of Vasudeva— Vasudeva as the soul, Sankarshana as a living being, Pradyumna as the mind and Aniruddha as the ego.

³⁶³
As was mentioned earlier, there are fourteen Manus in a kalpa. The list of names varies. But the most common list of the present fourteen Manus is Svayambhuva, Svarochisha, Uttama, Tamasa, Raivata, Chakshusha, Vaivasvata or Satyavrata, Savarni, Dakshasavarni, Brahmasavarni, Dharmasavarni, Rudrasavarni, Devasavarni and Indrasavarni. The present Manu is Vaivasvata.

³⁶⁴
The word yoga is twice used in this shloka, with different senses. We have translated vibhuti as divine, but it can also be translated in the sense of might or of the paramatman’s
vibhuti
(divinity or strength), strength. Given the use of the word vibhuti, yoga (the first usage) simply means divine power and glory.

³⁶⁵
Now yoga means union with the paramatman and the required meditation and self-realization.

³⁶⁶
About me.

³⁶⁷
The subject is actually suppressed.

³⁶⁸
Narada is a divine sage (devarshi). He was created mentally (rather than physically) by Brahma.

³⁶⁹
Many translations translate Asita and Devala as separate sages. That’s not true. The same sage, who lived on the banks of the Sarasvati River, is sometimes called Asita, sometimes Devala and sometimes Asita-Devala.

³⁷⁰
Vyasa means Vedavyasa or Vyasadeva. He is the collator of the four Vedas, hence the title of Vedavyasa or Vyasadeva. However, in the task of collating and dividing the Vedas, Vedavyasa or Vyasadeva is a title and there has been more than one Vedavyasa. Twenty-eight to be precise. Alternatively, the same Vedavyasa was reborn twenty-eight times. This particular Vedavyasa is the son of the sage Parashara, his mother’s name being Satyavati. His actual name is Krishna Dvaipayana, Krishna because he was dark and Dvaipayana because he was born on an island. Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa also authored the Mahabharata and the Puranas.

³⁷¹
If the gods and the demons do not know, an ordinary mortal is hardly expected to do so.

³⁷²
So the telling will be selective.

³⁷³
The three stages of creation, preservation and destruction.

³⁷⁴
The word aditya means born of Aditi and can refer to all gods in general. However, in this context, it means the twelve manifestations of the sun. These are Dhata, Mitra, Aryama, Rudra, Varuna, Surya, Bhaga, Vivasvan, Pusha, Savita, Tvasta and Vishnu. According to some accounts, one of these shines in each month.

³⁷⁵
The maruts are gods of the wind. The number of the maruts varies from place to place, but in most cases, it is forty-nine.

³⁷⁶
Nakshatra can also be translated as constellation.

³⁷⁷
This is slightly strange, because the Rig Veda is usually regarded as chief among the Vedas. The Sama Veda has hymns that are sung. So perhaps the rationale is that in bhakti yoga, or the path of devotion, songs have greater appeal than mantras that are merely recited.

³⁷⁸
As a god, Rudra is both one and many. As a single god, Rudra occurs in the Vedas and in the Upanishads. However, there are also descriptions of eleven rudras—Aja, Ekapada, Ahivradhna, Virupaksha, Sureshvara, Jayanta, Bahurupa, Tryambaka, Aparajita, Vivasvata and Haya. Sometimes, one has Raivata, Savitra, Pinaki and Ajaikapada replacing Aja, Ekapada, Aparajita and Vivasvata in the list. However, in no list of the eleven rudras does Shankara figure as a name. So this probably means Shankara as the lord of the rudras, rather than the chief one in a list.

³⁷⁹
Accounts of creation differ. According to one account, Brahma created some creatures in the night. At that time, Brahma was hungry and the resultant creatures also turned out to be hungry. Some tried to eat Brahma and these became the yakshas. Others tried to prevent these devourers and these came to be known as the rakshas. According to other accounts, Brahma created water and then created beings. Some of these wanted to worship and these came to be known as yakshas. Others wanted to protect the water and came to be known as rakshas. The Sanskrit doesn’t use the word Kubera. The Sanskrit expression is literally translated as lord of wealth, which of course, is Kubera. Kubera is also the lord of the yakshas, though not quite of the rakshas.

³⁸⁰
The word used for fire is
pavaka
. The fire god is Agni and his companions are the vasus, who are eight in number—Apa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhara, Anila, Anala, Pratyusha and Prabhasa. Sometimes, Dyu is mentioned instead of Apa.

³⁸¹
A mountain at the centre of the earth.

³⁸²
The concept of Brihaspati has evolved over time. Beyond a point, Brihaspati became the priest and the preceptor of the gods.

³⁸³
That is, Kartikeya, the general of the gods.

³⁸⁴
One of the seven great sages. According to one account, Bhrigu kicked Vishnu and thereby left his footprint on Vishnu’s chest.

³⁸⁵
Om.

³⁸⁶
There are different kinds of yajnas and the Gita has already mentioned them. Yajnas are usually associated with ritualistic sacrifices and the Gita has already said that these are inferior to yajnas that involve karma yoga and bhakti yoga. There is thus a broader interpretation of the word yajna. The word japa means uttering prayers in an undertone and continuously. Hence, japa yajna means invoking Krishna’s name (
nama
) and is thus also called nama yajna.

³⁸⁷
Ashvattha
, a holy tree.

³⁸⁸
Gandharvas are a semi-divine species and they were celestial singers and musicians. Chitraratha is the king of the gandharvas.

³⁸⁹
The great sage Kapila, son of Kardama and Devahuti and proponent of sankhya philosophy.

³⁹⁰
The immortal nectar is amrita and the gods and the demons collectively churned the ocean to raise amrita. Together with the amrita, the horse Ucchaishrava and the elephant Airavata arose from the ocean and were accepted by Indra.

³⁹¹
Indra’s thunderbolt.

³⁹²
The cow that yields all objects of desire, sometimes known as Surabhi. The word used in the shloka is actually
kamadhuk
, which means a granter of wishes.

³⁹³
Kandarpa is the god of love, also known as Kama or Madana. The suggestion probably is that desire for procreation is superior to desire for desire’s sake alone.

³⁹⁴
We have translated the sarpa of shloka 28 as serpent and the naga of shloka 29 as snake. This is unsatisfactory. Ananta is the king of nagas and Vasuki is the king of sarpas. What is the difference between sarpas and nagas? Some people translate sarpa as a poisonous snake and naga as a non-poisonous snake. But that’s not quite true. Both Ananta and Vasuki are the sons of Kadru and are brothers. However, here, they are quite clearly mentioned as distinct species. Sarpas and nagas seem to be differentiated in two ways. First, unlike sarpas, nagas can assume human form. Second, unlike sarpas, nagas have separate geographical areas of habitation. Sarpas live on earth.

³⁹⁵
The lord of the ocean.

³⁹⁶
Aryama is a manifestation of the sun and is the ruler of the pitris, ancestors or manes.

³⁹⁷
Those who control the fruits of righteous and evil conduct.

³⁹⁸
We have translated daityas as demons. Daityas are a specific category of demons, the progeny of Diti. Although born into this clan, Prahlada, the son of Hiranyakashipu, was a devotee of Vishnu’s. Eventually, Prahlada became the king of the daityas.

³⁹⁹
There is a slight problem of translation, because the word
kalayatam
can mean those things that overcome us or those things that devour us.

⁴⁰⁰
Actually, the Sanskrit text doesn’t use the expression lion. Instead, it uses the expression king of animals.

⁴⁰¹
The son of Vinata is Garuda, king of the birds.

⁴⁰²
The word used is makara and a makara is not quite a crocodile. It is part mythical and is sometimes also translated as a crocodile.

⁴⁰³
The river Ganga. Ganga is also known as Jahnavi because she was the daughter of the king Jahnu.

⁴⁰⁴
There are three kinds of arguments used in debating.
Jalpa
represents arguments to establish one’s own point of view.
Vitanda
represents arguments advanced to neutralize the opponent’s point of view. Vada is delinked from the objective of winning and is simply an impartial and objective attempt to deduce the truth.

⁴⁰⁵
Samasa is part of grammar and the samasa rules are used for compounding words. Dvanda is one type of rule.

⁴⁰⁶
Type of mantra where the lord is worshipped as the lord of everything.

⁴⁰⁷
The month of Agrahayana. The month of Agrahayana or Margashirsha is the foremost month because at that time, this used to be the first month of the year.

⁴⁰⁸
A collection of flowers, that is, spring.

⁴⁰⁹
Gambling representing the best form of cheating.

⁴¹⁰
Ushanasa is another name for Shukracharya, son of Bhrigu, and preceptor of the demons. Shukracharya is also a writer on the law. The word
kavi
doesn’t mean a poet. It means someone who is wise, a seer.

⁴¹¹
Those who ruled had four methods or stratagems—danda (punishment),
sama
(appeasement),
dana
(bribery) and
bheda
(sowing dissension).

⁴¹²
This chapter is about the vision of the universal form.

⁴¹³
The twelve adityas, eight vasus, the eleven rudras and the forty-nine maruts mentioned earlier. The two ashvinis are physicians of the gods, named thus because their mother (Samjna) was then (at the time of conception) in the form of a mare (
ashva
). Their names are actually Ashvini and Revanta.

⁴¹⁴
With ordinary eyes.

⁴¹⁵
There is a minor contradiction in what Arjuna has said. No one other than Arjuna has seen, or can see, this universal form.

⁴¹⁶
The saddhyas are gods, twelve or thirteen in number.

⁴¹⁷
The vishvadevas is a collective word for gods and divine energy taken together, originally believed to be thirty-three in number (eleven on earth, eleven in the sky and eleven in heaven). This later became 330 million.

⁴¹⁸
These are the pitris, ancestors or manes, to whom warm food is served.

⁴¹⁹
The siddhas are a semi-divine species, inhabiting the area between the sun and the earth and 88,000 in number.

⁴²⁰
As was mentioned earlier, sutas were charioteers and raconteurs. Although born into a royal family, Karna was raised by a suta and was therefore known as the son of a suta.

⁴²¹
Or having swallowed all the people. The word loka can be translated in either way.

⁴²²
The word kala can also be translated as time. But kala also means destroyer or fate or Yama. In this context, destroyer seems to be a better translation. Similarly, loka has been translated as people, but also means world.

⁴²³
That is, even if Arjuna does not fight.

⁴²⁴
Arjuna was also known as Kiriti. Kiriti means someone who wears a crown and Arjuna was so named because he received a crown from Indra.

⁴²⁵
The brahman or the paramatman.

⁴²⁶
The god of the wind.

⁴²⁷
The god of death.

⁴²⁸
The god of fire.

⁴²⁹
The god of the ocean.

⁴³⁰
The moon or the moon god.

⁴³¹
Meaning, in this context, Brahma. The word
prajapati
literally means lord or creator of beings. Brahma mentally created ten sages who later created other beings. These ten sages, who were also known as prajapatis, were Marichi, Atri, Angira, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasishtha, Daksha, Bhrigu and Narada. Other beings were descended from them and Brahma is therefore the grandfather (
pitamaha
). Since the word prajapati is used in the shloka in the singular rather than the plural, it clearly means Brahma.

⁴³²
If Brahma is the grandfather (pitamaha), great-grandfather (prapitamaha) is Brahma’s creator, that is, the brahman or the paramatman.

⁴³³
The universal form.