Book 12 — SECTION CCCII (continued 11)

1489. The planet Venus is supposed to be the sage Usanas or Sukra.

1490. The commentator explains the allusion by saying that formerly Vishnu, induced by the deities, used his discus for striking off the head of Usanas' mother. Hence the wrath of Usanas against the deities and his desire to succour their foes, the Danavas.

1491. The construction of this verse is very difficult. The order of the words, is—Indrotha jagatah prabhuh. Dhanada, etc., tasya kosasaya prabhavishnuh.

1492. Persons crowned with Yoga-success are competent to enter the bodies of others and deprive the latter of the power of will. Indeed, the belief is that the latter then become mere automata incapable of acting in any other way except as directed by the enlivening possessor.

1493. The etymology of Pinaka is panina anamayat. The initial and final letter of pani (pi) and the middle letter of anamayat (na), with the suffix ka make Pinaka.

1494. The last half of the last line may be taken as applying to Usanas.

1495. The vriddhim that Mahadeva saw could not be his own, for the greatest cannot be greater. The commentator, therefore, is right in holding that vriddhim refers to the greatness of Usanas within Mahadeva's stomach.

1496. The sa refers to Usanas and not to Mahadeva, as the commentator rightly points out.

1497. i.e., the religions of all the orders and all the modes of life.

1498. The scriptural injunctions are that one should sacrifice in honour of the gods, pour libations on the sacred fire, make gifts etc. In these exists Righteousness.

1499. The grammar of the third line is a little involved. Tasmin refers to Dharme. Supply nisthavantah after tasmin. The sense, of course, is that believing in the efficacy of righteousness, people of all modes of life accomplish the duties of their respective modes.

1500. The sinful become intermediate animals. The virtuous attain to heaven. They that are both virtuous and sinful attain to the status of humanity. They that acquire Knowledge become Emancipated.

1501. Destiny here means the result of the acts of past lives.

1502. The reading I adopt is jatikritam karma etc. Hence, this Verse also represents the arguments of the sceptic or the Charvakas. The four kinds of acts are Nitya, Naimittika, Kamya, and Nishiddha. If, however, for 'jatikritam karma, etc.,' the reading yantyakritam karma be adopted, the meaning would be—'In one's next life one does not meet with fruits that are not the results of one's acts of past life.' This must be so, for the opposite opinion would imply the destruction of acts and their consequences. Then again, such an opinion would conflict with the received opinion of mankind, for men, when they obtain the fruits of any act, always recollect the four kinds of acts of a past life for explaining the accession of those fruits.

1503. Verses 12 to 14 represent the theory of the sceptic, and I have rendered them as such. Only by reading verse 13 as 'yantyakritam karma, etc.,' the commentator points out that it may be taken as an observation of Parasara himself. As regards verse 15, it represents the ipse dixit of the speaker. He does not think that the sceptic is at all entitled to a reply. It is scarcely necessary to say that the Burdwan translator makes a thorough mess of these verses. K.P. Singha gives the substance correctly.

1504. The commentator shows that this is an answer to the sceptic's averment about Nature being the cause of everything. Fire is hot by nature, therefore, it does not become hot at one time, cold at another, and lukewarm at another time. One becomes either wholly happy or wholly unhappy or wholly happy and unhappy at the same time. Man's nature should not be such. The difference of state is produced by difference of causes.

1505. A Brahmana is precluded from eating many things. Many things again that he is competent to eat on all days of the year. In fact, there are many rules for regulating the fare of a Brahmana. To this day, an orthodox Brahmana abstains from many kinds of food. A Brahmana, therefore, who is unscrupulous in respect of his food, is no Brahmana and deserves to be pitied. Similarly, a man who cooks food for himself is an object of pity. Raw food, such as fruits, etc., one may take without offering a share thereof to guests and others. But cooked food can never be taken without a share thereof being given to others. Yati cha Brahmachari cha pakvannaswaminavubhau, hence he that takes cooked food without giving a share to these is said to eat Brahmaswam or that which belongs to a Brahmana.

1506. This is a very abstruse verse. The grammatical construction of the first line is asritena manasa vrittihinasya seva sasyate. Asritena is niralamvanena. By seva is meant homage paid to the Supreme in the form of devotion and concentrated meditation. It implies, of course, a thorough reliance on God. Vrittihina is one who has cast off the means of livelihood, implying one who abstains from worldly objects. In the second line, dwija is a vocative. Nirvritta is nishpanna, qualifying seva. Atihastat is 'from one who has transcended the use of the hand,' i.e., the necessity of acts. Atihastanirvritta, means 'obtained from a competent preceptor.' In brief, what is stated here is that such seva should be learnt from competent preceptors and not by discussion among persons in the stage of spiritual progress.

1507. The object of this verse, the commentator points out, is to show the desirability of practising that seva soon or without loss of time.

1508. In the discourse of Sanatkumara to Vritra, these six colours have been mentioned, and the nature of the acts by which one attains to a superior colour or falls down from a superior to an inferior one. Vide Sec. 280, ante.

1509. A particular kind of Chandala is called kusalin.

1510. Pratyapannasya is viparita-drishteh. Natma is dehadih. Tatah is papaddhetoh. Virochate, is viseshena atmatwena rochate.

1511. Pratyapattih is Vairagyam or Renunciation. As regards Prasthitasya it may be taken either as implying one that is dead or one that has betaken himself to Yoga. In the latter case, the verse would mean that that man who betakes himself to Yoga without adopting Renunciation meets with much sorrow.

1512. The object of this verse is to show that conscious sin can never be destroyed by expiation. The only means by which sin can be destroyed is by enduring its fruits.

1513. The Burdwan translator makes utter nonsense of this verse. Guna-yuktam is explained by the commentator as equivalent to punyakarma. Prakasam is equivalent to budhipurvakam prakasya or jnatwa. It is formed by the suffix namul.

1514. Yathatatham is sthula-sukshma-taratamyena. The sense is that all acts done knowingly produce fruits according to their nature. If gross, the fruits produced are gross; if subtile, the fruits produced are subtile.

1515. The speaker's opinion is that all acts are productive of fruits. If good, the fruits are good. If bad, the fruits are bad. There is this difference, however, between acts done knowingly and those done in ignorance: the former produce commensurate fruits i.e., if gross, their fruits are gross; if subtile, the fruits are subtile; but the latter produce fruits that are not so, so that even if heinous, the fruits do not involve a large but only a small measure of misery. There is no other difference between the two kinds of acts.

1516. The object of this verse is to show that such acts form the exception and they are kept out of my sight in this discourse on acts. The Rishi Viswamitra caused the death of the hundred sons of Vasishtha, and yet he had not to go to hell for it.

1517. The sense seems to be that when even such near relatives are cast off if found to be wanting in affection, the fact cannot be gainsaid that people never do good to others except when they hope to benefit themselves by such acts.

1518. What is intended to be said is that the acceptance of a gift from a superior person is equal in point of merit to a gift made by a poor person. A wealthy man, by making a gift, earns greater merit than by accepting a gift.

1519. i.e., by Dhyana and Dharana.

1520. This has reference to Usanas' attaining to the status of a planet (Venus) in the firmament.

1521. Nadantah is one word. It means Hinsa-sunyah. Danti cchinatti iti danta. Its reverse is Nadantah.

1522. Nirdishta refers to Seva.

1523. i.e., they take the hues of the society they keep. Hence, it is very desirable for them to live with the good.

1524. This son of Dhatri is the god of the clouds.

1525. The Burdwan translator gives a most ridiculous version of the expression Dhigdandasasanah. Unable to catch the sense, which however is certainly very plain, he actually interprets the words to mean 'living under the sway of king Dhigdanda.' K.P. Singha gives the correct meaning.

1526. In this verse also, the Burdwan translator takes Dhigdanda as the name of a king. He gives an equally ridiculous version of the second line. Abhyagachchan is explained by the commentator as having vishayan understood after it. The sense is that they began to enjoy all objects of the senses to an excess. Both Devan and Brahman are accusatives governed by Avamanya. K.P. Singha translates both the lines correctly.

1527. This verse is taken as a metaphorical statement. The three Asuras are, of course, Kama, Krodha, and Lobha. Gaganagah (staying in the firmament) is interpreted as 'existing in Maya'. Sapurah as 'with their gross, subtile, and potential forms;' 'felled on the earth is explained as 'merged into the pure chit.' The whole is taken to imply a spiritual destruction of all the evil passions and a restoration of man to his original state of purity.

1528. This chief of the Asura passions was Mahamoha or great Heedlessness. The word Devas here is taken to mean the senses. Of course, if verse 16 be not taken metaphorically, then may Devas be taken in its ordinary sense of the deities.

1529. The genius of the two languages being different, it is very difficult to render the phraseology of the first line. Literally rendered, the line would read 'they remain or stay on those acts, and establish them.' Besides being unidiomatic, the sentence would be unmeaning. 'To stay or remain on any act' is to adhere to it. 'To establish it' is to regard it as a precedent and cause it to be regarded by others as a precedent.

1530. Samsiddhadhigamam is explained by the commentator thus: Samsiddhah is nityasiddah, i.e., atman; tadadhigamam is atmajnanam.

1531. The very gods are subject to prosperity and adversity, and their effects of loves and hates. There is no mode of life in which these may not be found.

1532. After sukham supply bhavati or some such verb. Tyajatam stands by itself and refers to kamya karma, meaning they that abstain from such acts as are not nitya but as are only kamya or optional.

1533. The sense is that those who betake themselves to penances as the consequence of despair, are many. Those men, however, are very rare who adopt penances, being at once impressed that the happiness of domesticity is unreal and ends in misery.

1534. i.e., their penances of past lives.

1535. I am not sure that I have correctly understood the second line of this verse. Akrita-karmanam is explained by the commentator as anut-pannatattwajnanam and upabhogavarityagah is Renunciation or Vairagyam phalani has tapasah understood before it. But why phalani instead of phalam?

1536. The second line of this verse concludes the argument. The tasmat has reference to all the statements before, and not to only the first line of 26. The statement in the second line is the same as the second line of verse 13 above.

1537. I expand the second line a little for making it intelligible.

1538. By 'stainless penances' is meant nishkamam tapah or penances undertaken without desire of fruit.

1539. Tyaktwa has nishkalmasham tapah understood after it. The order of the words is Phalarthi apriyani etc., vishyatmakam tat phalam prapnoti. The distinction between nishkamam and sakamam tapah is this; through the former one attains to happiness. Even the earthly wealth he earns becomes fraught with happiness; through the latter, however, one meets with diverse kinds of sorrow resulting from the earthly possessions he succeeds in obtaining.

1540. The grammar of the first line is this: Dharme tapasi dane cha (sati avihitakarme) vidhitsa, etc. If vidhitsa be taken with 'dharma, etc.,' the verse would be unmeaning.

1541. The first line is difficult to construe. Tatah means 'inconsequence of the pain that attends the gratification of the senses.' Sarvasya refers to vivekinah; jyayase phalartham is 'for the sake of the highest fruit,' which, of course, is Emancipation. Gunah is 'same', 'dama, etc.'

1542. The commentator points out that the object of this verse is to show that everything one owns or does is not the result of the past acts. Spouses, food, drink, etc., one obtains as the result of past acts or praravdha karma. In respect of these, purushakara or Exertion is weak. Hence, to put forth Exertion for their acquisition would not be wise. As regards the acquisition of righteousness, however, there Exertion is efficacious. Hence, one should, with Exertion, seek to conform to one's own duties as laid down in the scriptures. Without such a distinction between destiny (praravdha) and Exertion (purushakara), the injunctions and interdictions of the Scriptures would be unmeaning. The Burdwan translator, citing portions of the commentary without at all understanding them, makes utter nonsense of the verse. K.P. Singha gives the meaning correctly.

1543. Sacrifices and all other acts undertaken from a sense of vanity, are destructible as regards their consequences, for heaven is terminable. Penances, however, that are undertaken without desire of fruit are not so, for these lead to Emancipation. Tesham refers to those mentioned in the first line of verse 37. It should not be taken to mean men in general, as the Burdwan translator wrongly does.

1544. Kam is Brahmanam. The commentator explains that Brahmana (the Creator) is equivalent to Brahmana; and that Vishnu is equivalent to Kshatriya. What is said, therefore, in this verse (according to him) is that a Sudra, by practising the common duties of all the four orders, succeeds in his next life in becoming a Brahmana. Thus say Brahmanas learned in the scriptures; but the opinion of Parasara is that such a Sudra, in his next life, takes birth as a Kshatriya.

1545. I am not sure that I have understood these two verses correctly. Verse 33 is evidently a cruce.

1546. Yathakarman means 'from one stage to another.' Karmapatham is yogam. The stages here referred to are vichara, vitarka, Ananda, and Asmita. What is stated in this verse is that one who casts off all attachments, and who devotes himself to Yoga, succeeds in attaining to the felicity of Emancipation.

1547. The Burdwan translator wrongly renders the second line of this verse. All the texts read this line in the same way.

1548. Snigdhais implies affectionate seniors such as mothers, etc.; karmani is explained by the Commentator as abhyanga-karmani, i.e., the rubbing of oil, etc., Such acts, when children are ill, are often done unto them by mothers. This is forbidden, for they are menial offices which seniors should never be permitted to perform.

1549. Vinasamabhikankhatam is explained in the alternative by the commentator in a very fanciful way. Kriyavatam is explained as 'observant of the duties of Tirthavasins.'

1550. The commentator is for explaining the second line exoterically.

1551. Dehat is Deham prapya. Yena is yena pumsa. Upapaditam has reference to panchatwam in the previous verse. The sense of the verse is this: he who meets with a sudden death in a tirtha or sacred place, does not become emancipated but obtains another body in his next life similar to the one he loses. Adhyanam gatakah is that though set or placed on the path of Emancipation, yet he becomes a traveller: his state is due to the inglorious manner of his dissolution.

1552. The object of this verse is to show that the man dying in a sacred place becomes reborn as a Rudra or a Pisacha and quickly attains to Emancipation in consequence of his contiguity to Siva. Mokshabhuteshu is Moksha-yogyeshu. The neuter form of taddeham is arsha.

1553. Gunanancha in the second line of verse 14 refers to the objects of the senses, which, as explained in previous Sections, have no independent existence, for they exist only as they exist in desire. The compound of the primal essences and the other things mentioned assumes different shapes through the force of the desires of previous lives.

1554. Acts are all perishable in respect of their consequences.

1555. It is difficult to give foreigners an idea of what is called Apamrityu. All deaths that are caused by such accidents as involve ignominy are called Apamrityu. Death from snake-bite, from a fall, by drowning, at the horns of an animal, etc., are instances of Apamrityu.

1556. Both yasya and sa refer to the foe called Ignorance. Rajaputra is a vocative. Paraiti is nasyati.

1557. Vanchate is preceded by kamena understood.

1558. It has been explained in previous sections that sreyas or nisreyas means good or excellent as applied to moral merit.

1559. By buddhiman is meant the man who is freed from attachment. Similarly, by durbuddhih is meant the man who is the slave of attachments.

1560. Karanapekshi is thus explained by the commentator: karanaphaladanatmika kriya tannirvittyapekshi. The sense is that sin can never be destroyed except by endurance of its fruits.

1561. The sense is that after the manner of the fabulous gem, Jiva attracts to itself, through Yoga, the status of Brahma.

1562. The Burdwan translator, without understanding the commentary, makes utter nonsense of this verse. K.P. Singha is not far wrong, but he does not bring out the principal point which is sought to be inculcated here. Sesame seeds are repeatedly mixed with fragrant oil. The more they are so mixed the more fragrant do they become. After the same manner, men acquire the quality of Sattwa by associating with persons of cleansed souls. The measure of Sattwa is dependent on the measure of the association.

1563. The track is that of Knowledge. Vide verse 3 above.

1564. Having used the words vistaran (Diverse) and samkshepah (Few), in the second line of this triplet, the speaker explains their meaning in the third. By 'Diverse' is meant all those fruits that consist of unstable enjoyments; hence, the diverse acts laid down in the Vedas and other scriptures. By 'Few' is meant Renunciation, or abstention from acts. What is said, therefore, in this verse is this: they that betake themselves to acts, which for their fruits all sorts of enjoyment, meet with misery; while they that abstain from acts or practise Renunciation meet with happiness. Both the vernacular versions are incorrect.

1565. It is difficult to understand what is meant by this verse. By progress in Yoga, the Soul can certainly cast off the mind and other attributes by which it is invested. The simile is unintelligible. The stalk of the lotus has its roots in mire. Does the first line mean, therefore, that the stalk speedily springs upwards and leaves the mire at its roots?

1566. The commentator explains that the intention of this verse is to explain that the universe which is created by the mind is destroyed afterwards by the mind itself.

1567. The sense is that one who has cast off objects of enjoyment and become emancipated, does not obtain rebirth.

1568. I follow the commentator in his exposition of this verse. The practice of fishermen (in India) is to sink their boats when they leave them for their homes, and to raise them again when they require them the next day. They do not leave their boats afloat for fear of the injury the waves may do to them by tossing them too much.

1569. By Prakriti here is meant the harmony of Sattwa, Rajas, and Tamas. As long as these three qualities are in harmony with one another, i.e., as long as there is no preponderance in any of them over the other two, so long there cannot be creation or the operations of the buddhi or understanding.

1570. In this verse the word Prakriti is used in an entirely different sense. It means here Ignorance.

1571. Sariragriha-sanjnasya is 'of one who regards his body to be an accompaniment of the Soul instead of regarding it to be the Soul.' 'Who regards purity as its sacred water', i.e., who, without resorting to the sacred waters whither others go for cleansing themselves, thinks that purity, both internal and external, is capable of cleansing him.

1572. Vide note to verse 21 above.

1573. The object of the verse is to show that one should not, for the sake of friends and kinsmen and spouses and children, abstain from pursuing one's true end. The practice of charity again is the true diet which supports a man.

1574. Astapadapada is a weight of gold. The word, as used in this verse, means a quantity of gold. Whether the reading be mudreva or sutrena, the sense remains unchanged. What is said here is that the mother, etc., are like lines traced with gold by the side of real gold; i.e., the mother, etc., are of no value or use in the acquisition of prosperity. K.P. Singha misses the meaning. The Burdwan translator, however, makes a most ridiculous exhibition of himself. Without understanding the commentary at all, in fact, not having been able to read the words of the commentary aright, he has produced a ridiculous jargon that is utterly unintelligible. Daksha is a vocative, meaning 'possessed of cleverness.' The words he daksha yatha, etc., of the commentator are read by the Burdwan Pundit as: deha-kshaya, etc.

1575. Apariharavan is incapable of being resisted. Samagatih as wind. Asmasara-vihitam is 'made by means of iron or the saw.' Asmasara stands here for krakacha or karapatra.

1576. The commentator explains that by tapah is meant the practice or observance of one's own duties. Damah is restraining the senses. Satyam is truthfulness of speech, and atmaguptih is subjugation of the mind. The knots are attachments and desires, etc.

1577. i.e., the assailant, finding his victim forgiving, himself burns with repentance.

1578. Vishayena yami is the correct reading; i.e., then here is palatal, and vishayena is in the instrumental case. The Bengal reading is vicious, for it reads Vishaye nayami.

1579. The Moon is endued with nectar, and, therefore, might have been such a man's equal; but the Moon waxes and wanes; therefore, the Moon cannot approach to an equality with such a man who is the same under all changes. Similarly, the wind, though unstained by the dust it bears is not the equal of such a man; for the wind is changeful, having slow, middling and quick motion. The Burdwan translator makes utter nonsense of the reference to the Moon and the wind. K.P. Singha gives the sense correctly.

1580. The commentator explains that the object of this verse is to show the merits of that man whose ignorance has disappeared.

1581. i.e., when Brahmanas incur obloquy they are said to become impure; they are again regarded as possessing the status of humanity only because they die.

1582. The examples of Viswamitra and others may be cited in this instance.

1583. Dharana is holding the soul in self-reflection, preventing it the while from wandering. Samadhi is complete abstraction.

1584. Akhandam is Sarvakalam; uposhya is tyaktwa. K.P. Singha wrongly translates this verse. He takes mansam for masam; but no difference of reading occurs between the Bengal and Bombay texts.

1585. The ten properties included in Sattwa or Goodness are gladness, cheerfulness, enthusiasm, fame, righteousness, contentment, faith, sincerity, liberality, and lordship. The nine properties included in Rajas or Passion are belief in the deities, (ostentatious) charity, enjoyment and endurance of happiness and sorrow, disunion, exhibition of manliness, lust and wrath, intoxication, pride, malice, and disposition to revile. The eight qualities included in Tamas or Darkness are unconsciousness, stupefaction, excess of stupefaction, muddiness of the understanding, blindness (of results), sleep, heedlessness, and procrastination. The seven incidents of Buddhi or the Understanding are Mahat, consciousness, and the five subtile essences. The six incidents of Mind are Mind and the five senses. The five incidents appertaining to Space are space, water, wind, light, and earth. According to a different school of philosophy, Buddhi, or the Understanding is said to have four incidents appertaining to it, viz., doubt, ascertainment, pride, and memory. Tamas (darkness) also is otherwise regarded to have only three incidents, viz., inability of comprehension, partial comprehension, and totally erroneous comprehension. Rajas (Passion) is (according to this school) regarding as having only the two incidents of inclination (to act) and sorrow. Sattwa has but one incident viz., Enlightenment.

1586. 'Durga' is an inaccessible region such as a forest or wilderness which cannot be passed through except with great pain and danger.

1587. The correct reading seems to be sthira-vratati-samkulam.

1588. Udadhi is, literally, a water-jar. In this country most people, while swimming, use water jars as buoys. The mouth of jar being dipped into the water the air confined within it serve to support heavy weights. I have heard that the most rapid currents are crossed by milkmaids in this way, all the while bearing milk pails on their heads.

1589. In the second line of 72, dustaram janma means janma-yuktam dustaram.

1590. The sense seems to be that by practising the Sankhya doctrine men cease to have any regard for even their gross bodies. They succeed in realising their existence as independent of all earthly or heavenly objects. What is meant by the Sun bearing them in his rays and conveying to them all things from every part of the universe is that these men acquire great puissance. This is not the puissance of Yoga but of knowledge. Everything being regarded as unsubstantial and transitory, the position of Indra himself, or of Brahman, is looked upon as desirable and unworthy of acquisition. Sincere conviction of this kind and the course of conduct that is confirmable to it is literally puissance of the highest kind, for all the purposes of puissance are capable of being served by it.

1591. This is taken as meaning that the Sankhyas are conveyed to the firmament of the heart. Perhaps, what is intended by it is that they become withdrawn from external objects and even the impressions of all external things.

1592. Perhaps, this means the pleasures of heaven.

1593. i.e., they who have identified themselves with Brahma.

1594. Yudhishthira's question seems to be this. Is there or is there not consciousness in the emancipate state? Different scriptures answer this question differently. If it be said that there is consciousness in that state, then why discard heaven and its pleasures, or the religion of Pravritti or acts which lead to those pleasures? Where is the necessity then of Sannyasa or the religion of Nivritti or abstention from all acts? On the supposition of there being consciousness in the emancipate state, the Religion of Pravritti should be taken as superior. If, on the other hand, the existence of consciousness be denied, that would be an error. Dnkshataram is ayuktaram.

1595. Although I make use of the word 'perceive' yet remembering that the mind is included among the senses and regarded as the sixth sense, the functions of recollection, representation, etc., are also implied by the word pasyati. The Burdwan translator gives a ridiculously erroneous version of this verse.

1596. The commentator explains that the simile of the froth is introduced in consequence of its disappearance with the disappearance of water. K. P. Singha is incorrect in taking the instance of froth as illustrative of the quickness of the destruction.

1597. Sarvatra does not mean 'through every part of the sleeper's body' as K. P. Singha takes it, but sarvavishaye as the commentator correctly explains it.

1598. Iha is sapne Anisah is nasti isah or pravartaah yasya.

1599. For the Soul, in dreams, sees and hears and touches and smells etc., precisely as it does while awake.

1600. The sense seems to be that a person who becomes emancipate in this life becomes so in Samadhi. When the state of Samadhi is over, his mind and senses return; and returning they do the bidding of the Supreme, i.e., bring about both happiness and misery, which, of course, are the consequences of the acts of past lives though that happiness and misery are not felt. In the next verse is said that these men very soon leave their bodies and become freed from rebirth.

1601. There are two kinds of Emancipation: one is attainable here, in this body, it is Jivan-mukti; the other is Videha-kaivalya or that which becomes one's when one is bodiless. In 98, Jivan-mukti has been spoken of. In this verse, the observations apply to Videha-kaivalya.

1602. Vadanti is stuvanti. Such men hymn its praises by regarding it as Supreme Deity possessed of attributes. Those attributes, of course, are the result of illusion, for in its real nature there can be no attributes in Brahma.

1603. Brahma is knowledge without duality i.e., knowledge without the consciousness of knower and known. The knowledge or cognition of an object, when object is annihilated, assumes the form of that knowledge which is called Brahma.

1604. The commentator explains that the object of this verse is to show that among mobile creatures those endued with knowledge are superior, and among all kinds of knowledge, the knowledge occurring in the Sankhya system is the highest.

1605. i.e., if in consequence of any defect of practice or Sadhana, the Sankhyas fail to attain to Emancipation, they at least become translated into gods.

1606. i.e., it is everything.

1607. That Narayana who does all this is the embodiment of the Sankhya system.

1608. The commentator explains the compound Adhyatmagatinischayam differently.

1609. Both the vernacular translator render this verse wrongly.

1610. Vasyante is explained by the commentator as implying Brahmanah ante and not 'at the end of that night'. The line occurs in Manu (Chap. 1. 74) where ante refers to Brahmana's day and night. Vasishtha here refers to Mohapralaya and not any intermediate Pralaya.

1611. In the creation of Mahan or Prajapati or Virat, and of Consciousness, the element of Tamas or ignorance predominates.

1612. This is a very abstruse verse. I am not sure that I have understood it correctly, What is said here seems to be this from Akshara arose Hiranyagarbha: from Hiranyagarbha arose Virat. This, that or the other is worshipped by ordinary men, while persons possessed of real insight do not invest any of them with attributes worthy of worship. The speaker says that the ascription of attributes, called Ignorance, and the non-ascription for destruction of that ascriptions called Knowledge, (with respect to Virat or Hiranyagarbha or Akshara) then arose. It might be asked that when there were no men as yet to worship or to condemn such worship, how could the two arise? The answer is that the two, in their subtile forms, came into existence and were afterwards availed of by men when men come into being.

1613. From Akshara or the Indestructible is Hiranyagarbha. From Hiranyagarbha is Mahan or Virat and Consciousness. From the last are the subtile elements.

1614. The meanings of such verses depend upon the grammatical significations of certain words that are used. They can scarcely be rendered accurately into any other language not derived from Sanskrit. What is said here is that it is Prakriti which must be said to be the Adhishthatri of the universe. Vishnu is not so. Vishnu, Brahma, Akshara, or the Indestructible, however, is said to cover or pervade the universe (vyapnoti). Vishnu is Vyapka but not Adhishthatri.

1615. In the previous section it has been said that through Tamas he takes birth among the intermediate orders, through Rajas among human beings, and through Sattwa among gods. The root kshi in Gunakshayat means aisarvya or puissance.

1616. The soul weaves a cocoon with attributes (or, acts which result from attributes), and though free deprives himself of freedom.

1617. Made of Chit and Not-Chit combined.

1618. The sense seems to be that the obligation to explain a treatise in the midst of a conclave always stimulates the best faculties, and if it is a conclave of the learned the friction of intellects is sure to bring out the correct sense.

1619. For enables them to conquer Ignorance.

1620. When Pranayama is performed with the aid of mantras or yapa, it is said to be saguna or sagarbha or endued with substance. Concentration of mind, however, is made without the aid of such yapa.

1621. The two and twenty sanchodans of Preranas are the two and twenty modes of transmitting the Prana breath from the toe of the foot to the crown of the head. That which transcends Prakriti is the Supreme Soul.

1622. The reading I adopt is na-kathyate.

1623. Atmanah is Iswarat parah.

1624. Parisankhyadarsanam is explained by the commentator thus: Parisankhyanam, is parivarianam, i.e., the gradual pravilapam of errors; Lena darsanam or sakshatkaram.

1625. The commentator explains that nistattwah means nirgatam tattwam aparoksham yasmat.

1626. Param Aparam, and Avyayam are theirs in consequence of Ajksharabhavatwa. Aparam means satyakamatwa, satyasamkalpatwa, etc. i.e., puissance. Param is the indescribable felicity of Samadhi. The Srutis declare that knower of Brahma becomes Brahma.

1627. Hence, as the commentator explains, by knowing what is called the Unmanifest one is capable of attaining to omniscience.

1628. What is stated here is this, the Unmanifest or Prakriti, by modification, produces Mahat and the other principles. But the agency of Purusha also is necessary for such production, for Prakriti can do nothing without Purusha, and Purusha also can do nothing without Prakriti. The principles of Mahat and the rest, therefore, may be said to have their origin as much in Purusha as in Prakriti. Beside, the two being naturally dependent on each other, if Prakriti be called Kshara, Purusha also may be so called.

1629. i.e., Jiva or Purusha.

1630. High, such as gods, middling, such as human beings and low, such as animals.

1631. Budha is Bodha or pure Knowledge. Abudha is the reverse of Budha. The Supreme Soul is Knowledge, while Jiva is Ignorance.

1632. In consequence of Jiva's union with or attachment to Prakriti. Jiva takes this object for a vessel; that for a mountain, and that other for a third. When knowledge comes, Jiva succeeds in understanding that all his impressions are erroneous and that the external world is only a modification of Self. In consequence of Jiva's capacity to comprehend this, he is called Budhyamana or Comprehender.

1633. Drisya and Adrisya, are the Seen and the Unseen, that is the gross and the subtile, or effects and causes. Swabhavena anugatam is inhering (unto all of them,) in its own nature, that is, Brahma pervades all things and unites with them without itself being changed as regards its own nature. Vudyate has manishibhih understood it.

1634. Tattwa is explained by the commentator as anaropitaruom, i.e., invested with any form in consequence of Ignorance; Not-Tattwa is nityaparoksham i.e., always within the ken of the understanding.

1635. That indication is 'I am Brahma.' Such conviction or knowledge even which characterises those that are awakened or Buddha, is cast off by the twenty-sixth.

1636. These examples are often used to explain the difference between the Jiva-soul and the Supreme Soul. The Udumvara is the fruit of the Ficus glomerate. When ripe and broken, the hollow centre is seen to contain many full-grown gnats. The gnat lives in the fruit but is not the fruit, just as the fish though living in the water is not the water that is its home. Jiva, after the same way, though living in the Supreme Soul, is not the Supreme Soul.

1637. Parah is Anyah or Chidatman. Paradharma means 'partaking' of the nature of Kshetra in which he resides. Sameyta is 'kshetrena iva ekebhya.'

1638. This is a simile very often used for illustrating the danger of pursuing objects of the senses. Collectors of honey used to rove over mountains, guided by the sight of flying bees. These men frequently met with death from falls from precipices.

1639. The Burdwan translator renders this verse incorrectly.

1640. This has been repeatedly laid down in the Hindu scriptures. Gifts produce no merit unless made to deserving persons. If made to the undeserving, instead of ceasing to produce any merit, they become positively sinful. The considerations of time and place also are to be attended to. By failing to attend to them, sin is incurred where merit is expected. Truth becomes as sinful as a lie, under particular circumstances; and a falsehood becomes as meritorious as truth under circumstances. The Hindu scriptures make circumstance the test of acts.

1641. These, including Mind, form the tale of sixteen called Vikriti or modifications of Prakriti.

1642. These are the subtile principles or Tanmatras and not the gross elements.

1643. Mahat is sometimes called Buddhi hence the creation of Consciousness from Mahat must be creation relating to Buddha.

1644. Arjjava mean 'relating to straight paths or courses,' so called from the straight course of these winds or breaths. By reference to these breaths is intended the other limbs of the physical system besides those already indicated.

1645. Rishi here means Mahan or Great. Consciousness is said to have an excellent essence, and is also a Bhuta because of its capacity to produce the Great Bhutas, five in number.

1646. These, the commentator explains, are Mind, Buddhi or Understanding Consciousness, and Chitwa, considered as Vyashti instead of as Samashthi. These are the sires of the primeval sires, i.e., from these sprung the Mahabhutas or Great creatures (viz., the five primal elements).

1647. Devah's is explained by the commentator as meaning the Senses and the four inner faculties. Devaih he thinks, refers to the Bhutas or Great elements. Literally rendered, the verse would read as 'the Devas are the Children of the Pitris; with the Devas, all the worlds of Mobile Being have been covered.' It is not safe to reject the learned commentator.

1648. These two verses refer to the power of the attributes of sound etc., over Jiva. Loves and hates, and all kinds of relationship of Jiva are due to the action of the attributes named.

1649. The duration here given has reference to the day and the night of the Mahabhutas.

1650. Prakritisthah means 'in his own Prakriti or nature.' The sense of the line is that Purusha, even when residing in the case that Prakriti provides him with, does not partake of the nature of Prakriti but continues to be undefiled by her.

1651. I expand this verse for bringing out the meaning. A verbal rendering will become unintelligible.

1652. This is a difficult verse, I am not sure that I have understood it correctly. The sense to be that Prakriti, which is really unintelligent and incapable of enjoyment or endurance, becomes intelligent and capable of enjoyment or endurance in consequence of being united with Purusha who is intelligent. Thus when pleasurable or painful sensation are felt, it is the body that seems to feel it only in consequence of the Soul that presides over it.

1653. The first line of 7 is the same in sense as the second line of 8. In the Bombay text, only the second line of 8 occurs, while the first line of 7 has been justly omitted. In fact, Tattwa and the Prakriti are the same thing.

1654. This refers to the opinion of the atheistic Sankhyas.

1655. By the word Rudra is meant Prana and the other breaths. The commentator explains that the etymology is utkramana kale dehinam rodayanti iti Rudrah Pranah. By regulating the vital breaths and the senses, Yogins attain to Yoga puissance and succeed in roving wherever they please in their linga-sarira or subtile bodies.

1656. The eight limbs of Yoga are Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dhyana, Dharana, Tarka, Samadhi, with the two additional ones of Yama and Niyama.

1657. In the first line of 9 the word Pranayama is used to mean regulation of the vital breaths. In the second line, the same word implies the ayamah or nigraha of the senses with the mind. By Dharana is meant the fixing of the mind, one after another, on the sixteen things named in treatises on Yoga. By ekagrata of the mind is meant that concentration in which there is no longer any consciousness of difference between Dhyatri, Dhyeya, and Dhyana.

1658. It is difficult for those who do not practise Pranayama to understand this fully. The fact is, Saguna Pranayama, when the breath is inhaled, the inhalation is measured by the time taken up in mentally reciting a well-known mantra. So when inhaled breath is suspended, the suspension is measured by the time taken in mentally reciting a particular mantra. When therefore, the suspended breath should be exhaled, it should be done by similarly measuring the time of exhaling. For beginners, this Saguna Pranayama is recommended. Of course only exhalation has been spoken of but it applies equally to inhalation and suspension. These three processes, in Yoga language, are Puraka, Kumbhaka, and Rechaka.

1659. Ekantasilin means a Sannyasin, Atmarama is one who takes pleasure in one's soul instead of in spouses and children.

1660. The pole-star.

1661. Chakre literally means 'I made'. The commentator explains it as equivalent to swayam avirbhut.

1662. Vipriya evidently means 'what is not agreeable.' There was evidently a dispute between Yajnavalkya and his maternal uncle Vaisampayana, the celebrated disciple of Vyasa. This dispute is particularly referred to in the next verse. Vaisampayana had been a recognised teacher of the Vedas and had collected a large number of disciples around him. When, therefore, the nephew Yajnavalkya, having obtaining the Vedas from Surya, began to teach them, he was naturally looked upon with a jealousy, which culminated (as referred to in the next verse) into an open dispute about the Dakshina to be appropriated in the Sacrifice of Janaka. The Burdwan translator incorrectly renders the word vipriya which he takes to mean as 'very agreeable.' In the Vishnu Purana it is mentioned that a dispute took place between Yajnavalkya and Paila. The latter's preceptor, Vyasa, came, and taking his side, asked Yajnavalkya to return him the Vedas which he had obtained from him. Yajnavalkya vomited forth the Vedas. These were instantly devoured by two other Rishis in the form of Tittiri birds. These afterwards promulgated the Taittiriya Upanishads.

1663. This shows that I was then regarded as the equal of Vaisampayana himself in the matter of Vedic knowledge. Sumanta and Paila and Jaimini, with Vaisampayana, were the Rishis that assisted the great Vyasa in the task of arranging the Vedas.

1664. This is called the fourth science, the three others being the three Vedas, Axis culture, and the science of morality and chastisement.

1665. Prakriti is regarded as something in which Sattwa, Rajas, and Tamas reside in exactly equal proportion. All the principles of Mahat, etc. which flow from Prakriti, are characterised by these three attributes in diverse measure.

1666. By Mitra is meant here the deity giving light and heat. By Varuna is meant the waters that compose the universe.

1667. Kah, the commentator explained, is anandah or felicity.

1668. The comparison lies in the folly of the two persons indicated. One churning ass's milk for butter is only a fool. Similarly, one failing to understand the nature of Prakriti and Purusha from the Vedas is only a fool.

1669. Gives a literal rendering of this verse for showing how difficult it is to understand the meaning. The commentator correctly explains the sense which is as follows: anyah or the other is the Soul as distinguished from its reflection upon Prakriti, that is the Soul in its real character as independent of Prakriti. What is said here is that when the Soul, in its real character beholds, or acts as a witness of everything (i.e., as exists in the states of wakefulness and dream), becomes conscious of both itself (the Twenty-fifth) and Prakriti (the Twenty-fourth) when, however, it ceases to behold or act as such witness (i.e., in the state of dreamless slumber of Yoga-samadhi), it succeeds in beholding the Supreme Soul or the Twenty-sixth. In simple language what is said here is that the Soul becomes conscious of both itself and Prakriti in the state of wakefulness and dream. In Samadhi alone, it beholds the Supreme Soul.

1670. What is said here is that the Twenty-sixth or the Supreme Soul always beholds the Twenty-fifth or the Jiva-soul. The latter, however, filled with vanity, regards that there is nothing higher than it. It can easily, in Yoga-samadhi, behold the Twenty-sixth. Though thus competent to behold the Supreme Soul, it fails ordinarily to behold it. The commentator sees in this verse a repudiation of the doctrine of the Charvakas and the Saugatas who deny that there is a Twenty-sixth Tattwa or even a Twenty-fifth which they identify with the Twenty-fourth.

1671. Tatsthanat is explained by the commentator as Varasya avaradhisrhanat, i.e., in consequence of vara overlying the avara. The instance of the string and the snake is cited. At first the string is erroneously taken for the snake. When the error is dispelled, the string appears as the string. Thus the Supreme and the Jiva-soul come to be taken as one when true knowledge comes.

1672. The ordinary doctrine is that the Jiva-soul is indestructible, for it is both unborn and deathless, its so called births and deaths being only changes of the forms which Prakriti undergoes in course of her association with it, an association that continues as long as the Jiva-soul does not succeed in effecting its emancipation. In this verse the ordinary doctrine is abandoned. What is said here is that the Jiva-soul is not deathless, for when it becomes identified with the Supreme Soul, that alteration may be taken as its death.

1673. This is a very difficult verse. Pasya and apasya are drashtri and drisya, i.e., knower and known (or Soul and Prakriti) Kshemaya and Tattwo are drik and drisya, i.e., knowledge and known. One that sees no difference between these that is, one that regards all things as one and the same, is both Kevala and not-Kevala, etc, meaning that such a person, though still appearing as a Jiva (to others) is in reality identifiable with the Supreme Soul.

1674. This may mean that as men speak, and as speech is Brahma, all men must be regarded as utterers of Brahma. If, again, Brahma be taken to mean the Vedas in special, it may imply that all men utter the Vedas or are competent to study the Vedas. Such an exceedingly liberal sentiment from the mouth of Yajnavalkya is compatible only with the religion of Emancipation which he taught.

1675. The doctrine is that unless acts are destroyed, there can be no Emancipation.

1676. Literally, 'these are not obstacles by external nature,' and are therefore irremovable by personal exertion of the ordinary kind.

1677. Sanchodayishyanti implies questioned. Here it means questioning the king internally or by Yoga power.

1678. Utsmayan is explained by the Commentators as 'priding himself upon his own invincibleness.' Ayaya bhavam implies her determination to make the king dumb. Visesayan is abhibhavan.

1679. Sammantum is explained by the Commentator as equivalent to samyak jnatum.

1680. It is difficult to say in what sense the word vaiseshikam is used here. There is a particular system of philosophy called Vaiseshika or Kanada; the system believed to have been originally promulgated by a Rishi of the name of Kanada. That system has close resemblance to the atomic theory of European philosophers. It has many points of striking resemblance with Kapila's system or Sankhya. Then, again, some of the original principles, as enunciated in the Sankhya system, are called by the name of Visesha.

1681. The mention of Vidhi indicated, as the commentator explains, Karmakanda. The value of Karma in the path of Emancipation is to purify the Soul.

1682. K. P. Singha wrongly translates this verse.

1683. There is equal reason in taking up etc., implies that the bearing of the sceptre is only a mode of life like that of holders of the triple-stick. Both the king and the Sannyasin are free to acquire knowledge and both, therefore, may attain to Emancipation notwithstanding their respective emblems. In the emblems themselves there is no efficacy or disqualification.

1684. The object of this verse is to show that all persons, led by interest, become attached to particular things. The littleness or greatness of those things cannot aid or bar people's way to Emancipation. 'I may be a king, says Janaka, and thou mayst be a mendicant. Neither thy mendicancy nor my royalty can aid or obstruct our Emancipation. Both of us, by Knowledge, can achieve what we wish, notwithstanding our outward surroundings.'

1685. Hence, by changing my royal life for that of a bearer of the triple-stick I can gain nothing.

1686. Yukte in the first line means in the Yogin. The Bombay reading Tridandanke is a mistake for Tridandakam. The Bombay text reads na muktasyasti gopana, meaning that 'there is no relief for one that has fallen down after having arisen in Yoga.' The Bengal text reads vimuktasya. I adopt the Bengal reading.

1687. What the king says is that he, the king, had made no assignation with the lady is consequence of which she could be justified in entering his body. The word Sannikarsha here means sanketa. Both the vernacular translators render this word wrongly.

1688. These faults and merits are set forth in the verses that follow.

1689. Saukshmyam, is literally minuteness. It means ambiguity here. I have rendered verse 81 very closely to give the reader an idea of the extreme terseness of these verses. For bringing out the meaning of the verse, the following illustration may serve. A sentence is composed containing some words each of which is employed in diverse senses, as the well-known verse of Parasara which has been interpreted to sanction the remarriage of Hindu widows. Here, the object indicated by the words used are varied. Definite knowledge of the meaning of each word is arrived at by means of distinctions, i.e., by distinguishing each meaning from every other. In such cases, the understanding before arriving at the definite meaning, rests in succession upon diverse points, now upon one, now upon another. Indeed, the true meaning is to be arrived at in such cases by a process of elimination. When such processes become necessary and or seizing the sense of any sentence, the fault is said to be the fault of minuteness or ambiguity.

1690. To take the same example; first take the well-known words of Parasara as really sanctioning the remarriage of widows. Several words in the verse would point to this meaning, several others would not. Weighing probabilities and reasons, let the meaning be tentatively adopted that second husbands are sanctioned by the Rishi for the Hindu widow. This is Sankhya.

1691. Having tentatively adopted the meaning the second husbands are sanctioned by the verse referred to, the conclusion should be either its acceptance or rejection. By seeing the incompatibility of the tentative meaning with other settled conclusions in respect of other texts or other writers, the tentative meaning is capable of being rejected, and the final conclusion arrived at, to the effect, that the second husband is to be taken only according to the Niyoga-vidhi and not by marriage.

1692. By prayojanam is meant the conduct one pursues for gratifying one's wish to acquire or avoid any object. Wish, in respect of either acquisition or avoidance, if ungratified, becomes a source of pain. The section or conduct that one adopts for removing that pain is called Prayojanam. In the Gautama-sutras it is said that yamarthamadhikritya pravartate, tat prayojanam. The two definitions are identical.

1693. By occurrence of these five characteristics together is meant that when these are properly attended to by a speaker or writer, only then can his sentence be said to be complete and intelligible. In Nyaya philosophy, the five requisites are Pratijna, Hetu, Udaharana, Upanaya, and Nigamana. In the Mimansa philosophy, the five requisites have been named differently. Vishaya, Samsaya, Purvapaksha, Uttara, and Nirnaya.

1694. These characteristics, the commentator points out, though numbering sixteen, include the four and twenty mentioned by Bhojadeva in his Rhetoric called Saraswati-kanthabharana.

1695. Parartham means, as the commentator explains, of excellent sense. It does not mean Paraprayojanam as wrongly rendered by the Burdwan translator. The latter's version of the text is thoroughly unmeaning.

1696. What Sulabha says here is this: the great primal elements are the same whether they make up this body or that other body; and then it is the same Chit that pervades every combination of the great elements. The object of this observation is to show that Janaka should not have asked these questions about Sulabha, he and she being essentially the same person. To regard the two as different would indicate obscuration of vision.

1697. What is meant by this is that when creatures are said to possess more of sattwa and less of sattwa, sattwa seems to be a principle that is existent in the constitutions of creatures.

1698. By the word Kala is meant the 16 principles beginning with Prana. What is intended to be said is that as long as the principle of Desire exists, rebirth becomes possible. The universe, therefore, rests on the principle of Desire or Vasana. The senses, etc. all arise from this principle of Vasana.

1699. By Vidhi is meant that righteousness and its reverse which constitute the seed of Desire. By Sukra is meant that which helps that seed to grow or put forth its rudiments. By Vala is meant the exertion that one makes for gratifying one's desire.

1700. The fact then of continual change of particles in the body was well-known to the Hindu sages. This discovery is not new of modern physiology. Elsewhere it has been shown that Harvey's great discovery about the circulation of the blood was not unknown to the Rishis.

1701. The instance mentioned for illustrating the change of corporal particles is certainly a very happy one. The flame of a burning lamp, though perfectly steady (as in a breezeless spot), is really the result of the successive combustion of particles of oil and the successive extinguishment of such combustion Both this and the previous verse have been rendered inaccurately by K.P. Singha.

1702. Hence the questions of Janaka, asking as to who the lady was or whose, were futile.

1703. The seven ways are as follows: Righteousness and Wealth and Pleasure independently and distinct from one another count three, then the first and second, the first and third, and second and third, count three and lastly, all three existing together. In all acts, one or other of these seven may be found. The first and second exist in all acts whose result is the righteous acquisition of wealth; the first and third exist in the procreation of children in lawful wedlock; the second and third in ordinary acts of worldly men. Of acts in which all three combine, the rearing of children may be noticed, for it is at once a duty, a source of wealth, and a pleasure. K.P. Singha omits all reference to these seven ways, while the Burdwan translator, misunderstanding the gloss, makes utter nonsense of it.

1704. The king may order some men to do some things. These men, after obeying those orders, return to him to report the fact of what they have accomplished. The king is obliged to grant them interviews for listening to them.

1705. The commentator explains that the three others are Vriddhi, Kshaya, and Sthana, all of which arise from policy. Some of the seven limbs are inanimate, such as the treasury. But it is said that the treasury supports the ministers, and the ministers support the treasury.

1706. Hence, when every kingdom has a king, and kings too are many, no one should indulge in pride at the thought of his being a king.

1707. The object of this verse is to show that as Janaka rules his kingdom without being attached to it, he cannot lay claim to the merit that belongs to kings.

1708. Upaya or means implies here the attitude of sitting (as in Yoga). Upanishad or method implies sravana and manana i.e., listening and thinking. Upasanga or practices imply the several limbs of Dhyana, etc. Nischaya or conclusion has reference to Brahma.

1709. I expand this verse fully.

1710. The na in the second line is connected with Vyayachcchate.

1711. The object of this verse is to show that the words uttered by Sulabha were unanswerable. To attain to Emancipation one must practise a life of Renunciation instead of continuing in the domestic mode.

1712. These foes are, of course, the passions.

1713. Literally, the world is only a hold of action, implying that creatures, coming here, have to act: these actions lead to rewards and punishments, both here and hereafter. The way to Emancipation is, as has been often shown before, by exhausting the consequences of acts by enjoyment or sufferance and by abstaining from further acts by adopting the religion of Nivritti.

1714. Kulapatam is explained by the commentator as Mahanadipuram. In Naram etc, venumivodahritam (as in the Bombay text) or venumivoddhhatam (as in the Bengal text) is rather unintelligible unless it be taken in the sense in which I have taken it. K. P. Singha mistranslates Kulapatam, and the Burdwan translator misunderstands both Kulaparam and venumivoddhatam.

1715. i.e., to uphold it by doing the duties of a Brahmanas.

1716. Prachalita-dharma etc, implies those that have fallen away from righteousness. The Burdwan translator misunderstands the verse. Karanabhih is kriabhih.

1717. The Commentator explains that this verse is for assuring Yudhishthira that kings are competent to obtain felicity in the next world. Anupagatam is explained by the Commentator as not attainable in even thousands of births.

1718. Rudhirapah is blood-sucking worms. Uparatam is dead.

1719. The ten boundaries or commandments, as mentioned by the Commentator, are the five positive ones, viz., Purity, Contentment, Penances, Study of the Vedas, Meditation on God, and the five negative ones, viz., abstention from cruelty, from untruth, from theft, from non-observance of vows, and from acquisition of wealth.

1720. Chirasya is grammatically connected with na vudhyase, meaning 'that thou art always blind etc.' The Burdwan translator misunderstands it completely and takes it as equivalent to achirena. K. P. Singha skips over it.

1721. The Burdwan translator gives a ridiculous version of the verse.

1722. Kevalam nidhim is literally, 'one's only treasure'. It may imply either Samadhi or Brahma. Acts, whether good or bad, all arise from error. Abstention from acts is the true way to Emancipation.

1723. The passions are spoken of as wolves.

1724. The sight of golden trees is a premonitory sign of Death.

1725. Literally rendered, the verse would run thus: Before the cooking is complete of the Yavaka of a rich man, in fact, while it is still uncooked, thou mayst meet with death. Do thou, therefore, hasten. By Yavaka is meant a particular kind of food made of ghee and flour or barley.

1726. In verse 53 it is said that the Soul is the witness in the other world of all acts and omission in this life. In verse 54, what is said is that the existence of the Soul when the body is not, is possible, for Yogins, in Yoga, live in their Soul, unconscious the while of their bodies. The entrance of the acting-Chaitanya into that Chaitanya which survives as the witness means the death of the body.

1727. The Burdwan translator gives an erroneous version of this verse.

1728. I think the sense is that only righteousness can bring a man to the path that leads to happiness and not mere instructions howsoever repeated.

1729. The Commentator explains that Pramadagah is equivalent to Pramadagrihavasin and refers to Antakah. Chamum is Indriyasenam. Grahitam is body. Yathagrahitam is dehamanatikramya. In this verse pura may mean either in the near future or soon, or pura may mean before, i.e., before the Destroyer makes thy senses so, etc.

1730. The road in which thyself shalt be in front and thyself in the rear is the road of Self-knowledge. The Burdwan translator does not understand how the first line comes to mean Knowledge of Self! Accordingly, though he uses the word amajnana (following the Commentator), yet he erroneously repeats some of the words used in the line.

1731. The last word of the second line is muchyate and not yujyate. If yujyate be adhered to, meaning would be 'freed the consequences of ignorance and error, he would succeed in attaining to Brahma.'

1732. This is a very abstruse verse. I have rendered it, following the lead of the Commentator, Srutam, he explains it 'the knowledge, born of vedic declarations like Tattwamasi etc.' Sarvamasnute is equivalent to samastam Brahmandam vyapnoti, meaning such knowledge leads to sarvatmyam, i.e., omniscience Tadetat etc., i.e., that omniscience is the darsanam, of parampurushartha or Moksha. Kritajna upadishtam artham is Samhitam.

1733. The sense is that in course of our repeated rebirths we have got these relations repeatedly and will get them as repeatedly. But we are, in reality, quite unconnected with them. Their union with us like the union of pieces of wood floating in a river, now joined together temporarily, now separated.

1734. Mokshadaisikam is explained by the commentator as Mokshandeshataram. K. P. Singha wrongly renders this word. This section is called pavakadhyayanam, meaning chitta-sodhakadhyayanam, that is, the lesson which, when read and mastered, is to lead to the cleansing of the heart.

1735. Time, as a personified agent, is throwing all creatures at unequal distances. Some are thrown near and some to a great distance. These distances are regulated by the nature of the acts done by the creatures thrown. Some are cast among animals, some among men. Throwing or hurling them thus, Time drags them again, the binding-cords being always in his hands.

1736. Both the vernacular translators have misunderstood the first line of this verse although there is no difficulty in it. Apastamva says drishto dharma-vyatikrama; Sahasancha purvesham. What Bhishma says here is that one should not speak of those instances of Vyatikramah and Sahasam.

1737. Although the Vedas came to Suka of their own accord, yet he was in deference to the universal custom, obliged to formally acquire them from a preceptor.

1738. Vyasa was the priest or Ritwija of the house of Mithila and as such the kings of Mithila were his Yajyas or Yajamanas. The duty of a Yajamana is to reverence every member of the priest's family. The sire, therefore, cautions the son that he should not, while living with the king of Mithila, assert his superiority over him in any respect.

1739. It is certain that one must abandon all acts before one can attain to Emancipation. But then acts should not be cast off all at once. It is according to this order that they should be abandoned, i.e., in the order of the several modes.

1740. The karanas are the inner faculties.

1741. i.e., when Emancipation and omniscience have been attained in the very first mode of life, no further need exists for conforming to the three other modes of life.

1742. i.e., behold the Supreme Soul by his own Soul.

1743. Instead of papakam some texts read pavakam, meaning of the nature of fire.

1744. After manasa, saha is understood. It does not mean that the senses are to be restrained by the mind, but the words imply that the mind and the senses are to be restrained. K. P. Singha renders the line correctly. The Burdwan translator, as usual, is careless.

1745. K. P. Singha skips over this verse.

1746. i.e., he turned his soul's gaze on his soul and withdrew himself from every worldly object.

1747. He no longer walked like ordinary men. Without trailing along the solid support of the Earth, he proceeded through the sky.

1748. Popularly, Bhimaraja, the Lanius Malabaricus.

1749. It is believed that a person, by performing austere penances, scorches the three worlds. It is in consequence of this effect of penances that the superior deities were always compelled by the Asuras and Danavas to grant them whatever boons they solicited.

1750. The sense is that if the Vedas are not constantly studied, they are likely to be forgotten.

1751. Upaplava is Rahu or the ascending node. In many parts of Upper India, during the hot months in particular, large quantities of dust are raised by whirl winds in the afternoon or at evening called Andhi the clouds of dust cover the moon for hours together.

1752. The lowest order of men, living by slaying animals.

1753. The verse in the Bengal texts is a triplet. In the Bombay edition, the third line is excluded from verse 36. There is no inconvenience in this, only, it should be construed as referring to the wind called Samana or Pravaha.

1754. Some texts read Jaytamvarah. If this be accepted, it should be an adjective of Parivaha, meaning the foremost of all in the strength or energy.

1755. The sacred river Ganga has it is said, three courses or streams. One flows on the surface of the Earth, the second flows through the nether regions, and the third flows through heaven.

1756. The first line runs into the second.

1757. Penances should be protected from wrath. By penances one attains to great power. The ascetic's puissance frequently equals that of Brahman himself. If, however, the ascetic indulges in wrath and curses one from wrath, his puissance becomes diminished. For this reason, forgiveness is said to be the highest virtue a Brahmana can practise. A Brahmana's might lay in forgiveness. Knowledge also should be protected from honour and dishonour, i.e. one should never receive honour for his knowledge, that is, do anything for the object of achieving honour. Similarly, one should never do anything which may have the effect of dishonouring one's knowledge. These are some of the highest duties preached in scriptures.

1758. The saying Satyadapi hitam vadet is frequently misunderstood. The scriptures do not say that truth should be sacrificed in view of what is beneficial, for such view will militate with the saying that there is nothing higher than truth. The saying has reference to those exceptional instances where truth becomes a source of positive harm. The story of the Rishi who spoke the truth respecting the place where certain travellers lay concealed, when questioned by certain robbers who were for killing the travellers, is an instance to the point. The goldsmith's son who died with a falsehood on his lips for allowing his lawful prince to escape from the hands of his pursuers did a meritorious act of loyalty. Then, again, the germ of the utilitarian theory may be detected in the second line of this verse.

1759. To conquer the unconquerable means to attain to Brahma.

1760. In the Srutis, Paravara is an equivalent for the Supreme Soul. The correct reading is nasyati at the end of the first line, and not pasyati as in some of the Bengal texts. Adhering to pasyati (which gives no meaning), the Burdwan translator gives a ridiculous and unmeaning version of this verse. K. P. Singha, of course, adopts the correct reading.

1761. This verse is not at all difficult. The sense is that the man who transcends all attachments never comes to grief if brought into union with other creatures. The Burdwan translator gives a thoroughly unmeaning version of this couplet.

1762. The object of this verse is to show that men of knowledge do not perform sacrifices, in which, as a matter of course, a large number of creatures is slain. Men wedded to the religion of Pravriti perform sacrifices. Coming into the world in consequence of past acts, they seek happiness (by repairing to heaven) along the way of sacrifices and religious rites. A large number of creatures is slain, for besides the victims ostensibly offered, an infinite number of smaller and minuter creatures are killed in the sacrificial fires and in course of the other preparations that are made in sacrifices.

1763. Sorrow increases by indulgence.

1764. This is a very doubtful verse. The commentator is silent. I follow the meaning as it lies on the surface. The object of the verse seems to be this: there are men that are employed in reflecting upon the nature of things: these should know that such occupation is useless, for truly the nature of things is beyond the grasp of the mind. The greatest philosopher is ignorant of all the virtues of a blade of grass, the purpose for which it exists, the changes that it undergoes every instant of time and from day to day. Those men, however, who have such unprofitable occupation for walking along the highest path (the path, that is, which leads to Brahma) free themselves from grief.

1765. I am not sure that I have understood this verse correctly.

1766. What is intended to be said is that the gratification of the senses leaves nothing behind. The pleasure lasts as long as the contact continues of the objects with the senses. The Burdwan translator, not suspecting that the word used is adhana, gives a ridiculous version.

1767. What is said here is this: a man has spouses and children, or wealth, etc.: there was no sorrow when these were not: with his union with these his sorrow commences. Hence, when these things disappear, an intelligent man should not indulge in any sorrow. Bonds or attachments are always productive of grief. When bonds are severed or destroyed, there ought to be no grief.

1768. i.e., whose pleasures do not depend upon external objects such as spouses and children.

1769. Vidhitsabhih is pipasabhih. It comes from dhe meaning drinking.

1770. Vyasa lived in northern India and was evidently unacquainted with the tides that appear in the Bengal rivers.

1771. The object of this verse is to show the utility and necessity of acts. Without acting no one, however clever, can earn any fruit. Both the vernacular translators give ridiculous versions of this plain aphorism.

1772. Asi is used in the sense of akansha.

1773. Naprapyanadhigachchati is na aprayam etc.

1774. I do not quite understand in what the fault lies that is referred to here. Perhaps the sense is this. In Hindu philosophy, the vital seed is said to be generated by the sight of a desirable woman. When sexual congress takes place with one whose sight has not originated the vital seed but with another it fails to be productive. Whoever indulges in such intercourse is to blame.

1775. Parasarirani has prapnuvanti understood after it. Chinnavijam means whose seed has broken, that is the creature whose gross body has met with destruction. The gross body is called the Vijam or seed of (heaven and hell). The sense of the verse is that every one, after death, attains to a new body. A creature can never exist without the bonds of body being attached to him. Of course, the case is otherwise with persons who succeed in achieving their Emancipation by the destruction of all acts. The Burdwan translator, following the commentator faithfully, renders this verse correctly. K. P. Singha skips over it entirely.

1776. This is not a difficult verse. Then, again, the commentator explains it carefully. K. P. Singha gives a ridiculous version. The Burdwan translator is correct. Nirddagdham and vinasyantam imply the dying or dead. Jivar paradeham chalachalam ahitam bhavati means another body, as much subject to destruction, is kept ready.

1777. I expand this verse a little for bringing out its meaning. What is said here is that some come out of the womb alive; some die there before being quickened with life, the reason being that their acts of past lives bring for them other bodies even at that stage.

1778. This verse is certainly a 'crux.' The commentator, I think, displays considerable ingenuity in explaining it. The order of the words is Gatayushah tasya sahajatasya pancha saptamim navamim dasam prapnuvanti; tatah na bhavanti; sa na. The ten stages of a person's life are (1) residence within the womb, (2) birth, (3) infancy, up to 5 years, (4) childhood, up to 12 years, (5) Pauganda up to 16 years, (6) youth, up to 48 years, (7) old age, (8) decrepitude, (9) suspension of breath, (10) destruction of body.

1779. Niyuktah means employed. I take it to imply employed in the task of conquering Nature. It may also mean, set to their usual tasks by the influence of past acts. Nature here means, of course the grand laws to which human existence is subject, viz., the law of birth, of death, of disease and decrepitude etc.

1780. Uparyupari implies gradual superiority. If one becomes wealthy, one desires to be a councillor; if a councillor, one wishes to be prime minister; and so on. The sense of the verse is that man's desire to rise is insatiable.

1781. The reading I prefer is asathah and not sathah. If the latter reading be kept, it would mean of both descriptions are seen to pay court to the wicked.

1782. Avavandhah is low attachments, implying those that appertain to the body. In fact, the acquisition of the body itself is such an attachment. What is said here is that Jiva who has become enlightened becomes freed from the obligation of rebirth or contact with body once more.

1783. The mass of effulgence constituting the Sun is nothing else than Brahma. Brahma is pure effulgence. Savitri-mandala-madhyavartir-Narayanah does not mean a deity with a physical form in the midst of the solar effulgence but incorporeal and universal Brahma. That effulgence is adored in the Gayatri.

1784. The commentator takes Shomah to mean Shomagath Jivah. He does not explain the rest of the verse. The grammatical construction presents no difficulty. If Shomah be taken in the sense in which the Commentator explains it, the meaning would be this. He who enters the solar effulgence has not to undergo any change, unlike Shomah and the deities who have to undergo changes, for they fall down upon the exhaustion of their merit and re-ascend when they once more acquire merit. Both the vernacular translators have made a mess of the verse. The fact is, there are two paths, archiradi-margah and dhumadi-margah. They who go by the former, reach Brahma and have never to return. While they who go by the latter way, enjoy felicity for some time and then come back.

1785. Here, the words Sun and Moon are indicative of the two different paths mentioned in the note immediately before.

1786. What Suka says here is that he would attain to universal Brahma and thus identify himself with all things.

1787. Jahasa hasam is an instance in Sanskrit of the cognate government of neuter verbs.

1788. The Rishis knew that the height of the atmosphere is not interminable.

1789. In this Section, Bhishma recites to Yudhishthira the fact of Suka's departure from this world, and Vyasa's grief at that occurrence. He speaks of the fact as one that had been related to him bygone times by both Narada and Vyasa himself. It is evident from this that the Suka who recited the Srimad Bhagavat to Parikshit, the grandson of Arjuna, could not possibly be the Suka who was Vyasa's son.

1790. What Bhishma says here is that without faith this subject is incapable of being understood.

1791. This is a triplet. The last word of the third line, viz., Swayambhuvah refers to Krishnah, but it has no special meaning. It is an adjective used more for the sake of measure than for anything else.

1792. The golden cars referred to here are the fleshly bodies of the two deities. The body is called the car because like the car, it is propelled by some force other than the Soul which owns it for a time, the Soul being inactive. It is regarded as golden because every one becomes attached to it as something very valuable. The eight wheels are Avidya and the rest.

1793. i.e., the hands, the feet, the stomach, and the organ of pleasure. The hands are said to be protected when they are restrained from the commission of all improper acts; the feet are said to be duly protected when they are restrained from touching all improper places. The stomach is said to be protected when one never takes any kind of improper food, and when one abstains from all evil acts for appeasing one's hunger. And lastly, one is said to restrain the organ of pleasure when one abstains from all acts of improper congress.

1794. The word Mushka as ordinarily understood, implies the scrotum or testes. The commentator Nilakantha supposes that it may stand for the shoulder-knot. He believes that the phrase implies that the people of this island had each four arms.

1795. The Sattwata ritual is explained by the Commentator to mean the Pancharatra ritual. Tachecheshena implies with what remained after Vishnu's worship was over.

1796. i.e., dedicated his possessions to the service of Narayana, and held them as the great God's custodian. In other words, he never regarded his wealth as his own, but was always ready to devote it to all good and pious purposes.

1797. i.e., the treatise those Rishis composed was the foremost of its kind in respect of choice and harmony of vocables, of import or sense and of reasons with which every assertion was fortified.

1798. There are two religions, viz., that of Pravritti, implying act and observances, and that of Nivritti, implying a complete abstention from all acts and observances. The last is also called the religion of Emancipation.

1799. Whether any work on morality and religion was over actually composed by the seven Rishis or not, no such work, it is certain, is in existence now. Besides this mention of the work in the Mahabharata, no reference to it has been made anywhere else. As to Sukra-niti it is extant, Vrihaspati's niti-sastram is defunct. It is probable, however, that before Saba-niti there was an anterior work, brief if not exhaustive on the same subjects.

1800. Paryyaya literally means a list. The fact is, in all Sanskrit lexicons words expressive of the same meanings occur together. These lists are known by the name of Paryyaya. A more definite idea of the meaning of this word may be had by the English reader when he remembers that in a lexicon like Roget's Thesaurus, groups are given of words expressive of the same signification. Such groups are called Paryyayas.

1801. The Hotri has to pour libations on the sacrificial fire, reciting mantras the while. Sadasyas are persons that watch the sacrifice, i.e., take care that the ordinances of the scriptures are duly complied with. They are, what is called, Vidhidarsinas.

1802. Clarified butter offered in sacrifices, with cakes of powdered barley steeped in it.

1803. Professor Weber supposes that in this narrative of the three Rishis Ekata, Dwita, and Trita, the poet is giving a description of either Italy or some island in the Mediterranean, and of a Christian worship that certain Hindu pilgrims might have witnessed. Indeed, a writer in the Calcutta Review has gone so far as to say that from what follows, the conjecture would not be a bold one that the whole passage refers to the impression made on certain Hindu pilgrims upon witnessing the celebration of the Eucharist according to the ordinances of the Roman Catholic Church. The Honble K. P. Telang supposes that the whole passage is based on the poets imagination. Ekantabhavepagatah is taken by some to mean worshippers of the divine Unity. I do not think that such a rendering would be correct.

1804. The Bombay reading is tadapratihato abhavat. This seems to be better than the Bengal reading tato-apratihata. If the Bengal reading be adhered to, apratihatah should be taken in the sense of nasti pratihatoyasmat. The meaning, of course, would remain the same.

1805. Yapa means the silent recitation of certain sacred mantras or of the name of some deity. In the case of the inhabitants of White Island, the silent recitation was no recitation of mantras or words, but was a meditation on incorporeal Brahma. The next verse makes this clear.

1806. This would seem to show that it was the Roman Republic which the pilgrims saw.

1807. Professor Weber thinks that this has reference to the absence of idols or images. The pilgrims saw no deities there such as they had in their own temples.

1808. Professor Weber wrongly renders the words Purvaja and sikshaksharaiamanwitah. The first word does not, as he renders it, imply, eldest son of God, but simply first-born. It is seen in almost every hymn in the Mahabharata to the Supreme Deity. It is synonymous with Adipurusha. Then siksha etc. does not, as he thinks, mean 'accompanied by teaching,' but it is the science of Orthoepy and is one of the Angas (limbs) of the Vedas. The Vedas were always chanted melodiously, the science of Orthoepy was cultivated by the Rishis with great care.

1809. The Pancha-kala, or Pancha-ratra, or Sattwatas vidhi, means certain ordinances laid down by Narada and other Rishis in respect of the worship of Narayana.

1810. The sense is this: as all of them were practising that frame of mind which resembles Brahma, they did not regard us, i.e., neither honoured nor dishonoured us.

1811. Both the vernacular translators have erred in rendering this simple verse.

1812. The construction seems to be this: Parangatimanuprapta iti Brahmanah samanantaram naishthikam sthanam, etc. It does not mean, as K. P. Singha puts it, that he proceeded to Brahman's region, nor, as the Burdwan translator puts it, that having gone to Brahman's region he attained to the highest end. The sense, on the other hand, is that as his was the very highest end, he, therefore, ascended to a spot that is higher than Brahman's region. The simple meaning is that king Uparichara attained to identification with Brahma.

1813. i.e., when they have cursed thee, their curse should fructify. Thou shouldst not do anything that may have the effect of nullifying that curse.

1814. To this day, in many religious rites, these streaks of ghee are poured with mantras recited the while. They are called Vasudhara and are poured along the surface of a wall. First, a waving line of red is drawn horizontally on the wall. Then seven spots are made under that line. Then with the sacrificial ladle, Ghee is poured from each of the spots in such a way that a thick streak is poured along the wall. The length of those streaks is generally 3 to 4 feet and their breadth about half an inch.

1815. The mantras recited by Vasu were Vedic mantras.

1816. The Burdwan translator, as also K. P. Singha, both err in translating the first line of this verse. It does not mean that Narada worshipped them with a bend of his head and that they in return worshipped him mentally.

1817. In the sense of His being unmodified, even as space is an entity that cannot be modified in any way.

1818. i.e., as the commentator expands, who is displayed without any modification, all else being modifications of Thyself.

1819. i.e., from whom speech has flowed, or who is Vrihaspati the celestial priest, so famous for his learning and intelligence.

1820. i.e., the original home of the universe. The idea is that when the universal dissolution comes, all things take refuge in thee. I follow the commentator in all the interpretations he gives.

1821. i.e., who has performed the avabhrita or final bath upon the completion of all vows and observances and sacrifices.

1822. i.e., thou hast performed sacrifices.

1823. The Vedas have six limbs or divisions.

1824. Pragjyotish is the name of a particular Saman. The Rich beginning with Murdhanam etc. when sung, comes to be called by the name of jeshtha Saman. What is said here, therefore, is that thou art both the foremost of Samanas and he that sings that Saman.

1825. In the Bombay text, the reading for Vainagarbha is Vaikhanasa which means a class or sect of ascetics.

1826. The commentator explains that by Mahayajna—great sacrifice—is meant Yoga. The Jiva-Soul is like the libation poured in the sacrifice, for by Yoga the Jiva-Soul is annihilated and merged into the Supreme Soul.

1827. In treatises on the Smriti, the indications of these three kinds or degrees of modifications are given.

1828. By this word is meant a particular conjunction of heavenly bodies. This conjunction is represented as having a peculiar form.

1829. The word Upanaha used here in the dual number, has puzzled many persons. It is difficult to conceive why the great God should appear with a pair of shoes in one of his hands. Probably, the Upanaha, in ancient times, was a wooden sandal, and what the poet means to say is that Narayana, appeared with all the requisites of a Brahmacharin on his person.

1830. i.e., merges into.

1831. This cosmogony is agreeable to the Vaishnava scriptures. Above all, without beginning is Vasudeva. From Vasudeva is Sankarshana. From Sankarashana is Pradyumna. From Pradyumna is Aniruddha. Some persons find in this quadruple creation the distinct trace of the Christian Trinity. It is very difficult, however, to say which doctrine, the Hindu or the Christian, is the original and which is derived from which.

1832. The reader is requested to mark the address 'king of kings'. This is evidently a slip of the pen. The whole speech is that of Narayana and Narada is the listener.

1833. The commentator is silent. The sense seems to be that as Brahman is to be the son of Narayana in the beginning of a Kalpa when there is no other existent object mobile or immobile, the same Brahman is to be vested with dominion over all things which he would himself create through Ahankara. Of course, as long as Brahman is without Ahankara so long there can be no Creation, i.e., no subjects mobile and immobile, to be known by different names.

1834. Nityada is always. Some persons believe that Narayana has to manifest himself always for achieving the business of the deities. This Earth is not the only world where such manifestations needed. As to the object of the manifestations considerable difference of opinion prevails. In the Gita, the great deity himself explains that that object is to rescue the good and destroy the wicked. Others hold that this is only a secondary object, the primary one being to gladden the hearts of the devout by affording them opportunities of worshipping him and applauding his acts, and to indulge in new joys by serving his own worshippers.

1835. This is a reference to the well-known description of Narayana as Savitrimandalamadhyavartih etc. It is not the visible Sun whose disc is meant, but that pure fountain of effulgence which is inconceivable for its dazzling brightness that is implied.

1836. The tense used in the original is future. What is meant, however, is that the great deity does these acts at the beginning of every Kalpa when he recreates the Earth. All cycles or Kalpas are similar in respect of the incidents that occur in them.

1837. Maheswara is Mahadeva or Siva, Mahasena is Kartikeya, the generalissimo of the celestial forces.

1838. Vana, the son of Vali, was a devout worshipper of Mahadeva. Mina's daughter Usha fell in love with Krishna's grandson Aniruddha. Aniruddha was imprisoned by Vana. It was to rescue Aniruddha that Krishna fought with Vana, after having vanquished both Mahadeva and Kartikeya. The thousand and one arms of Vana, less two, were lopped off by Krishna. The episode of the love of Aniruddha and Usha is a very beautiful one.

1839. Saubha was the name of a flying city of the Danavas. Krishna felled this city into the ocean, having killed all its Danava inhabitants. As to Kala-yavana, his death was brought about by Krishna under the following circumstances. Pursued by the Danava, Krishna took refuge in a mountain-cave in which a king of the Satya Yuga was lying asleep. Entering the cave, Krishna stood at the head of the sleeping king. The Danava, entering the cave after Krishna, found the sleeping king and awaked him. As soon as the king looked at the Danava, the latter was consumed into ashes, for the gods had given a boon to the king that he who would awake him would be consumed by a glance of his.

1840. The idea of Eternity without any conceivable beginning and conceivable end was so thoroughly realised by the Hindu sages that the chiefdom of Heaven itself was to them the concern of a moment. Nothing less than unchangeable felicity for all times was the object they pursued. All other things and states being mutable, and only Brahman being immutable, what they sought was an identification with Brahma. Such identification with the Supreme Soul was the Emancipation they sought. No other religion has ever been able to preach such a high ideal. The Hindu's concern is with Eternity. He regards his existence here as having the duration of but the millionth part of a moment. How to prevent re-birth and attain to an identification with the Supreme Soul is the object of his pursuit.

1841. K. P. Singha has completely misunderstood the sense of verse 113, Bhishma does not certainly mean that Brahman was unacquainted with the narrative. What Bhishma says is that it was not to Brahman, but to the Siddhas assembled in Brahman's abode, that Narada recited his narrative.

1842. K. P. Singha misunderstands verses 115 and 116 completely. The fact is, Surya recited the narrative unto those that precede and those that follow him in his journey through the firmament. K. P. Singha confounded the two classes of persons together. The Burdwan translator, as usual, makes nonsense of verse 116. The correct reading (as given in the Bombay text) is lokan, the grammatical construction being lokan tapatah suryasya etc. The Burdwan translator makes Surya repeat the narrative to the worlds created and placed before Surya.

1843. The drift of Saunaka's queries seems to be this the religion of Pravritti is opposed to that of Nivritti. How is it that both have been created by the same Narayana. How is it that he has made some with dispositions to follow the one, and others with dispositions to follow the others.

1844. Atmanah parinirmitam pralayam means that destruction or cessation of existences which is brought about by self-realization. What the king says here is,—If the religion of Nivritti be so superior in consequence of its superior end, why is it that the deities who are all superior to us did not pursue it? Were they ignorant of the method by which Emancipation is attainable? Were they ignorant of the means by which to win cessation of existence? K. P. Singha renders the verse correctly. The Burdwan translator misunderstands it although he repeats the exact words of the second foot of the second line.

1845. That is, the attributes of vision to Light, taste to Water, sound to Space, touch to Wind, and smell to Earth.

1846. Avritti lakshanam means that the reward to be bestowed shall not be Emancipation whence there is no return, but such reward (as the felicity of heaven) whence there will be a return for each of the receivers.

1847. Taking their rise from the fruits of Pravritti implies having their origin in their desire for such fruits as appertain to the religion of Pravritti or acts.

1848. What is stated here is that creature following the path of Pravritti cannot hope to reach the spot whence there is no return. It is by the path of Nivritti that spot is capable of being reached. The path of Pravritti is always fraught with return. One may become, by walking along that path the very chief of the celestials, but that status is not eternal. Since the beginning (if a beginning can be conceived), millions and millions of Indras have arisen and fallen down.

1849. Literally, with their four quarters entire.

1850. This salutation of Krishna unto the Supreme Soul is very characteristic. He salutes himself by saluting the Supreme Soul.

1851. Sattwa is the attribute of righteousness. It is said to consist of eight and ten qualities. The commentator mentions them all.

1852. i.e., Emancipation or complete identification with the Supreme Soul.

1853. The object of this verse, the commentator says, is to explain the meaning of the word Hrishikesa. Agni is the digestive fire, and Shoma is food. Uniting together, Agni and Shoma, therefore uphold the universe. In the form of digestive fire and food, Agni and Shoma are two gladdeners of the universe. They are called on this account Hrishi (in the dual number). And since they are, as it were, the kesa or hair of Narayana, therefore is he called Hrishikesa. All these etymologies are very fanciful. Elsewhere the word Hrishikesa is explained as the Isa or lord of Hrishika or the senses.

1854. Sat is existent or aught. Asat is naught or non-existent. Very generally, these two words are used to imply Effects and Causes, the former being gross or manifest, and the latter, subtile or unmanifest. Tamas here does not mean one of the three primal attributes but primeval darkness. Compare Manu, asitidam tamobhutam etc.

1855. I do not know whether I have understood correctly the last part of this sentence. I think what is stated is that by honouring Hari and Mantra, one honours the deities and men and the Rishis. By men, I think, dead men or the Pitris are referred to.

1856. The reading vagamritam is an error. The correct reading is gavamritam.

1857. In former times kings and chiefs always used to assign rent-free lands to learned Brahmanas for their support. Those countries where Brahmanas had not such lands assigned to them, were, as it were, under a ban. What is said in this verse is that in such countries the blessings of peace are wanting. The inhabitants are borne on vehicles drawn by oxen on steeds.

1858. In consequence of this third eye on Rudra's forehead, he came to be called by the name of Virupaksha or the ugly or fierce-eyed.

1859. A Manwantarah consists of about 72 Chaturyugas, i.e., 288 yugas according to the measurement of the celestials. The present yuga is called the Vaivaswat Manwantarah, i.e., the period connected with Manu the son of Vivaswat. At each Manwantorah a new Manu appears. The self-born Manu was a different person.

1860. By practising Yoga one acquires certain superhuman powers. These are called Yogaiswaryya. They include Anima, by which one can become very minute; Laghima, by which one can become very gross, etc.

1861. The river Ganga has three currents. One flows through heaven, one is visible on the Earth, and a third flows through the nether regions. Persons of the regenerate classes, when saying their morning, midday, or evening prayers, have to touch water often. What is meant, therefore, by 'Bharadwaja touching the water' is that Bharadwaja was saying his prayers. Vishnu assumed his three-footed form for beguiling Vali of the sovereignty of the universe. With one foot he covered the Earth, with another he covered the firmament. There was no space left for placing his third foot upon.