The sanskrit epics, p.719
The Sanskrit Epics, page 719
459 The sense is that such a man never sets his heart upon things of this world, and accordingly these, when acquired, can never satisfy him. His aspirations are so great and so high above anything this world can give him that the attainment of even the region of Brahma cannot, as the commentator explains, gratify him. At first sight this may look like want of contentment, but in reality, it is not so. The grandeur of his aspirations is sought to be enforced. Contentment applies only to ordinary acquisitions, including even blessedness in heaven.
460 i.e., such a man is sure of attaining to a blessed end.
461 Such as distinctions of caste, of dress, of food, etc., etc.
462 A reference to the region of Brahma, which is supposed to be located within every heart. One reaches that region through penances and self-denial. The sense, of course, is that his is that pure felicity of the heart who has succeeded in driving off all evil passions therefrom.
463 The word used here is Buddhasya (genitive of Buddha.) May not this verse be a reference to the Buddhistic idea of a Buddha?
464 i.e., both are equally efficacious.
465 In the Bengal texts, verse 9 is a triplet. In the second line the correct reading is nirvedat and not nirdesat. Avadya is fault. Vinivartate is understood at the end of the third line, as suggested by Nilakantha. Both the Bengali versions of 9 are incomplete, the Burdwan one being also incorrect.
466 The commentator explains that compassion, like the faults enumerated above, agitates the heart and should be checked for the sake of individual happiness or tranquillity of soul.
467 In India, from the remotest times, preceptors are excluded from charging their pupils any fees for the instruction they give. No doubt, a final fee, called Gurudakshina, is demandable, but that is demandable after the pupil has completed his studies. To sell knowledge for money is a great sin. To this day in all the indigenous schools of the country, instruction is imparted free of all charges. In addition to this, the pupils are fed by their preceptors. The latter, in their turn, are supported by the charity of the whole country.
468 Dakshina is the present or gift made in sacrifices.
469 Vahirvyedichakrita, etc., is the correct reading.
470 i.e., such a person may perform a grand sacrifice in which Soma is offered to the gods and drunk by the sacrificer and the priests.
471 The Burdwan translator, misled by the particle nah, supposes that this verse contains an injunction against the spoliation of a Sudra. The fact is, the nah here is equal to ‘ours’.
472 Who has fasted for three whole days.
473 Aswastanavidhana is the rule of providing only for today without thinking of the morrow.
474 The sense, of course, is that if a Brahmana starves, that is due to the king having neglected his duty of providing for him.
475 I follow Nilakantha in rendering abrahmanam manyamanah. It may also mean ‘regarding himself to be a fallen Brahmana (for the time being)’.
476 It should be noted that the word foeticide used in such texts frequently means all sins that are regarded as equivalent to foeticide. Hence, killing a Brahmana is foeticide, etc.
477 There is a material difference of reading in this verse. Following the Bengal texts, the above version is given. The Bombay text runs as follows: ‘upon his body being burnt therewith, or by death, he becomes cleansed.’ The Bombay text seems to be vicious. Drinking is regarded as one of the five heinous sins. The severer injunction contained in the Bengal texts seems therefore, to be the correct reading.
478 The true reading is nigacchati and not niyacchati. The Burdwan translator has misunderstood the word papam in this verse.
479 Nilakantha correctly explains the connection of Susamsitah.
480 Nilakantha explains that the question of Nakula excited the heart of Bhishma and caused a flow of blood through his wounds. Hence Bhishma compares himself to a hill of red-chalk.
481 Durvarani, Durvaradini, Durvachadini, are some of the readings of the first line.
482 Literally, family or clan; here origin.
483 The second line of 19 is unintelligible.
484 Taddhitwa is tat hi twa. Nilakantha thinks that twa here is twam.
485 In the Bengal texts, 41 is made a triplet, and 42 is made to consist of a single line; 42 is represented as Vaisampayana’s speech. This is evidently an error; 41 a couplet. 42 also is so. Rajna etc., refer to Bhima. K.P. Singha avoids the error; the Burdwan translator, as usual, makes a mess of 41 by taking it to be a triplet.
486 There can be very little doubt that the second line has a distinct reference to the principal article of faith in Buddhism. Emancipation here is identified with Extinction or Annihilation. The word used is Nirvana. The advice given is abstention from attachments of every kind. These portions of the Santi are either interpolations, or were written after the spread of Buddhism.
487 The doctrine set forth in 48 is the doctrine of either Universal Necessity as expounded by Leibnitz, or that of Occasional Causes of the Cartesian school. In fact, all the theories about the government of the universe are strangely jumbled together here.
488 i.e., they that have wives and have procreated children.
489 Raktamivavikam and not Raktamivadhikam, is the correct reading. The Burdwan translator accepts the incorrect reading.
490 The true reading is Brahmavarjitah and not that word in the accusative. Both the Bengali versions have adhered to the incorrect reading of the Bengal texts.
491 i.e., it was not a piece torn off from a full piece, but both its dasas or ends were there.
492 To this day there are many Brahmanas in India who are asudra-pratigrahins, i.e., who accept no gift, however rich, from a Sudra.
493 Kimpurusha is half-man and half-horse. The body is supposed to be that of a horse, and the face that of a man.
494 Literally, ‘for obtaining goods’.
495 At such entertainments, Hindus, to this day, sit on separate seats when eating. If anybody touches anybody else’s seat, both become impure and cannot eat any longer. Before eating, however, when talking or hearing, the guests may occupy a common seat, i.e., a large mat or blanket or cloth, etc., spread out on the floor.
496 Agni or fire is a deity that is said to have Vayu (the wind-god) for his charioteer. The custom, to this day, with all travellers in India is to kindle a large fire when they have to pass the night in woods and forests or uninhabited places. Such fires always succeed in scaring off wild beasts. In fact, even tigers, raging with hunger, do not approach the place where a blazing fire is kept up.
497 Surabhi is the celestial cow sprung from the sage Daksha.
498 Whether the word is chirat or achirat is difficult to make out.
499 In Sanskrit the ablative has sometimes the sense of ‘through’. Here, mitrat means both from and through. What is said is that wealth, honours, etc., may be acquired through friends, i.e., the latter may give wealth or be instrumental in its acquisition, etc.
500 It is very difficult to literally translate such verses. The word Dharma is sometimes used in the sense of Religion or the aggregate of duties. At other times it simply means a duty or the course of duties prescribed for a particular situation. Tapah is generally rendered penance. Here, however, it has a direct reference to sravana (hearing), manana (contemplation), and nididhyasana (abstraction of the soul from everything else for absolute concentration). The Grammar of the second half of the first line is Sati apretya etc., Sat being that which is real, hence, the Soul, or the Supreme Soul, of which every individual Soul is only a portion.
501 And not the Soul, as the commentator explains. With the death of the body joy and grief disappear.
502 The art by which the body could, as in Egypt, be preserved for thousands of years was not known to the Rishis.
503 The commentator explains the sense of this as follows: The cow belongs to him who drinks her milk. Those who derive no advantage from her have no need for showing her any affection. One should not covet what is above one’s want. It has been said, that (to a thirsty or hungry or toil-worn man), a little quantity of vaccine milk is of more use than a hundred kine; a small measure of rice more useful than a hundred barns filled with grain; half a little bed is of more use than a large mansion.
504 I follow Nilakantha in rendering this verse. His interpretation is plausible. Mudatamah, according to him, are those who are in deep sleep. There are four stages of consciousness. These are (1) wakefulness, (2) dream, (3) dreamless or deep slumber, and (4) Turiya or absolute Samadhi (which the Yogin only can attain to).
505 The two extremes, of course, are dreamless slumber and Turiya or Samadhi. The two intermediate ones are wakefulness and sleep with dream.
506 Pride in consequences of having insulted or humiliated others; and success over others such as victories in battle and other concerns of the world.
507 The first half of the second line is read variously. The sense, however, in effect, remains unaltered. What is said here is that man who succeeds in attaining to a state of Brahma by true Samadhi or abstraction from the world, can never be touched by grief.
508 In all treatises on Yoga it is said that when the first stage is passed, the neophyte succeeds in looking at his own self. The meaning seems to be that he experiences a sort of double existence so that he succeeds in himself looking at his own self.
509 This is the same as 46. The Bombay edition does not repeat it.
510 The house referred to is the body. The single column on which it is supported is the backbone, and the nine doors are the eyes, the ears, the nostrils, etc. etc.
511 The sense is that women always regard their human lovers as dear without regarding the Supreme Being to be so, although He is always with them.
512 i.e., coursing on, without waiting for any one.
513 Literally, intelligent.
514 The true reading is Jnanena and not ajnanena. Then, in the last foot, the word is a-pihitah and not apihitah. The words with ava and api frequently drop the initial a. Hence a-pihitah means not covered.
515 The word used in the text is Devanam (of the gods). There can be no doubt however, that the word deva is here used for implying the senses.
516 i.e., wild beasts and lawless men.
517 Asatyajyam and Asatyadyam are both correct. The sense is the same. The first means ‘having untruth for the libation (that it eats up).’ The second means ‘having untruth for the food (it devours)’.
518 Santi is tranquillity. The Santi-sacrifice is the endeavour to practise self-denial in everything; in other words, to restrain all sorts of propensities or inclinations. The Brahma-sacrifice is reflection on truths laid down in the Upanishads. The Word-sacrifice consists in the silent recitation (japa) of the Pranava or Om, the initial mantra. The Mind-sacrifice is contemplation of the Supreme Soul. The Work-sacrifice consists in baths, cleanliness, and waiting upon the preceptor.
519 Both readings are correct, viz., Kshetrayajna and Kshetrayajna. Kshetra is, of course, the body. If the latter reading be accepted, the meaning will be ‘a sacrifice like that of a Kshatriya, i.e., battle.’ Hence, all kinds of acts involving cruelty.
520 or, seek Brahma in thy understanding. The word Atman is often synonymous with Supreme Self.
521 The commentator explains that the object of Yudhishthira’s question is this: in the preceding section or lesson it has been inculcated that one may seek the acquisition of the religion of moksha or emancipation even when he is young. Yudhishthira enquires whether wealth (so necessary for the performance of sacrifices) is needed for the acquisition of that religion. If wealth be necessary, the poor then would not be able to acquire that religion. Hence the enquiry about the way in which joy and sorrow come to the wealthy and to the poor.
522 The verses are said to be old. Nilakantha accordingly supposes that it was not Sampaka who recited them to Bhishma, but some one else. I follow the commentator; but the grammar of the concluding verse of this section must have to be twisted for supporting him.
523 Kakataliyam is, literally, ‘after the manner of the crow and the palmyra fruit.’ The story is that once when a crow perched upon a palmyra tree a fruit (which had been ripe) fell down. The fruit fell because of its ripeness. It would be a mistake to accept the sitting of the crow as the cause of the fall. The perching was only an accident. Yet men very frequently, in tracing causes, accept accidents for inducing causes. Such men are said to be deceived by ‘the fallacy of the crow and the palmyra fruit.’
524 Exertion to be successful must depend on circumstances. The combination of circumstances is destiny.
525 It is difficult to resist the belief that many of the passages of the Santi are later additions. Suka was the son of Vyasa. To quote a saying of Suka (or, as he was called Sukadeva Goswamin), if Vyasa was the real writer of this passage, is rather suspicious.
526 i.e., arrive at such a point that nothing was left for him to desire.
527 i.e., with the view of doing thee good, I shall emancipate myself from all attachments and enjoy the blessedness of tranquillity.
528 Here the theory of desire seems to be reversed. Desire is mere wish after anything. When its gratification is sought, the form it assumes is that of determination or will. If, however, Kama be taken as the formulated desire after specific objects, then, perhaps, the Will may be regarded as its foundation, at least, in respect of the distress and difficulties that come in its train.
529 I think the Bombay reading of this verse is incorrect. Bhuttagramah (nom. sing.) should be Bhutagramam (accusative sing.). The Yah is Kamah. It is Desire that is exhorted to go away whithersoever it chooses. If the elements be thus exhorted, then it is death that the speaker desires. This would be inconsistent with the spirit of the passage.
530 The use of the plural Yushmashu might lead at first sight to take it as standing for the elements. It is plain, however, that it refers to all attributes that are founded on Rajas and Tamas.
531 Beholding all creatures in my own body and mind i.e., identifying myself with all creatures or never taking them as distinct and separated from me: in other words, professing and practising the principle of universal love.
532 The two lines are antithetical. What is said here is that though there is misery in property, there is no real happiness in affluence. Hence Nilakantha is right in supposing that the last word of the first line is not dhane but adhane the Sandhi being Arsha.
533 Nilakantha explains that by Saranga here is meant the bee. The anweshanam following it is ‘going behind.’ The whole compound means ‘imitation of the bee in the forest.’
534 The allusion is to the story of Pingala, in Section 74 ante.
535 The story, evidently a very ancient one, is given in full in the Bhagavat. Once on a time, a maiden, residing in her father’s house, wished to feed secretly a number of Brahmanas. While removing the grain from the barn, her anklets, made of shells, began to jingle. Fearing discovery through that noise, she broke all her anklets except one for each hand.
536 Animittatah is explained by Nilakantha as one that has no cause, i.e., Brahma. The commentator would take this speech as a theistic one. I refuse to reject the plain and obvious meaning of the word. All phases of speculative opinion are discussed in the Santi. It is very possible that a religious indifferentism is preached here.
537 The sense of the passage is that as everything depends upon its own nature, it cannot, by its action, either gladden or grieve me. If a son be born to me I am not delighted. If he dies, I am not grieved. His birth and death depend upon his own nature as a mortal. I have no power to alter that nature or affect it in any way.
538 The word Ajagara implies ‘after the manner of a big snake that cannot move.’ it is believed that such snakes, without moving, lie in the same place in expectation of prey, eating when anything comes near, famishing when there is nothing.
539 The meaning is that even copious drafts do not slake thirst permanently, for after being slaked, it is sure to return.
540 In the Bengal texts, 44 is made a triplet. The correct reading, however, is to take 44 as a couplet and 45 as a triplet. Nilakantha points out that Icchantaste, etc., is grammatically connected with 45.
541 The auspicious constellations are such as Pushya and others; the inauspicious are Mula Aslesha, Magha, etc; yajnaprasava may also mean the fruits of sacrifices.
542 Anwikshikim may also mean ‘microscopic’.
543 The word dattam, generally rendered ‘gifts’ or ‘charity,’ means and includes protection of suppliants, abstention from injury as regards all creatures, and actual gifts made outside the sacrificial altar. Similarly, the maintenance of the sacred fire, penances, purity of conduct, the study of the Vedas, hospitality to guests, and offer of food to the Viswedevas, are all included in the word Ishta which is ordinarily rendered ‘sacrifice.’
544 i.e., even if he seeks to avoid it.
545 i.e., becomes his inseparable associate.
546 What is meant is that if once the consequences of the acts of a past life are exhausted, the creature (with respect to whom such exhaustion takes place), is freed from all vicissitudes of life. Lest, however, such creatures become emancipated, the orthodox view is that a balance is always left of both merit and demerit, so that a new birth must take place and the consequences of what is thus left as a balance must begin to be enjoyed or suffered. This is not referred to here, but this is the view of all orthodox Hindus.
547 The first word of this verse is diversely read. The reading I adopt is samunnam meaning drenched in water. If it be samjuktam it would mean united, with filth, of course. Another reading is samswinnam, meaning ‘drenched with sweat.’ Nilakantha explains upavasah here as equivalent to the renunciation of all earthly possessions. Ordinarily it means ‘fasts.’
