World Lit Reader

Bhagavad Gita: edition notes

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Chapter 1

  1. Source marker 1. The original word means, according to Sridhara, “the ways of entrance into a Vyuha or phalanx.”
  2. Source marker 2. Bhishma, as generalissimo, remained in the centre of the army.
  3. Source marker 3. Literally, according to the commentators, “lord of the senses of perception.”
  4. Source marker 4. Schlegel renders the names of these conchs by Gigantea, Theodotes, Arundinea, Triumphatrix, Dulcisona, and Gemmiflorea respectively.
  5. Source marker 2. That is, to join in the fight.
  6. Source marker 3. In the original, several derivatives from the root yudh, mean- ing ' to fight,' occur with the same frequency as ' battle ' here.
  7. Source marker 2. Generally interpreted ' lord of sleep/ i.e. not indolent. Nila- kawMa also suggests, that it may mean ' of thick hair.
  8. Source marker 3. The son of Dushyanta and £akuntala, after whom India is called
  9. Source marker 1. Bharatavarsha/ and from whom both Paz^/avas and Kauravas were descended.
  10. Source marker 2. bhagavadgJtA.
  11. Source marker 4. The words in this list include all standing in similar relation- ships to those directly signified.
  12. Source marker 5. Such as the appearance of vultures, cars moving without horses, &c, mentioned in the Bhishma Parvan II, 17. Cf. SuttaNipata, p. too. 3 A demon of this name.

Chapter 2

  1. Source marker 2. The commentators say that ' heart ' here signifies the dis- positions which are stated in chapter XVIII infra, p. 126. The feeling of ' helplessness ' is incompatible with what is there stated as the proper disposition for a Kshatriya.
  2. Source marker 2. I.e. by the heat of vexation ; the meaning is, 1 which will cause constant vexation of spirit/
  3. Source marker 3. I.e. if the means employed are the sinful acts referred to.
  4. Source marker 4. Scil. regarding family-rites, &c., for, says Nilakaw/^a, they indi- cate knowledge of soul as distinct from body.
  5. Source marker 5. A common word in the Gita, that which presides over each individual body.
  6. Source marker 2. Cf. KaMa-upanishad, p. 104. 2 Ka//;a-upanishad, pp. 103, 104.
  7. Source marker 2. 1 Eternal.' Nilaka;////a explains this by ' unlimited by time, place,' &c. -Sahkara and others as 1 uncreated,' 1 without cause.' Stable = not assuming new forms; firm = not abandoning the original form. (6'ridhara.) The latter signifies a slight change ; the former a total change.
  8. Source marker 1. Cf. the following from the Sutta Nipala (Sir M. C. Swamy's translation), pp. 124, 125 : 'There is, indeed, no means by which those born could be prevented from dying.' 1 Even thus the world is afflicted with death and decay ; therefore wise men, knowing the course of things in the world, do not give way to grief.
  9. Source marker 4. Cf. Sutta Nipata, p. 125. * In vain do you grieve, not knowing well the two ends of him whose manner either of coming or going you know not.
  10. Source marker 5. I. e. the self spoken of above.
  11. Source marker 1. Sahkhya is explained in different modes by the different com- mentators, but the meaning here seems to be, that the doctrine stated is the doctrine of true knowledge and of emancipation by means of it. See infra, p. 52.
  12. Source marker 2. Viz. this mortal mundane life.
  13. Source marker 4. I. e. for those who enter on this ' path/
  14. Source marker 4. I.e. of the supreme Being; Yoga meaning really the dedication of all acts to that Being.
  15. Source marker 5. See Sutta Nipata, p. 4.
  16. Source marker 6. This is a merely temporary good, and not therefore deserving to be aspired to before final emancipation.
  17. Source marker 7. I. e. the whole course of worldly affairs. As to qualities, see chapter XIV.
  18. Source marker 2. Heat and cold, pain and pleasure, and so forth. Cf. Manu I, 26.
  19. Source marker 3. Cf. Sutta Nipata, p. 17 and other places.
  20. Source marker 4. Keeping the mind from worldly objects.
  21. Source marker 6. Doing nothing at all.
  22. Source marker 5. Merit merely leads to heaven, as to which see note on last page. Cf. Sutta Nipata, pp. 4, 136, 145 note.
  23. Source marker 6. Sutta Nipata, pp. 3-7, &c.
  24. Source marker 1. Sutta Nipata, p. 21.
  25. Source marker 2. This, according to Anandagiri, means all writings other than those on the science of the soul.
  26. Source marker 3. I.e. about the means for the acquisition of various desired things.
  27. Source marker 4. I. e. of the soul (.Sahkara), of the supreme Being (Sridhara). Substantially they both mean the same thing.
  28. Source marker 2. I. e. pleased, without regard to external objects, by self-con- templation alone.
  29. Source marker 3. Cf. Sutta Nipata, p. 3.
  30. Source marker 4. The word jubhanibha in this sense also occurs in the Dhamma- pada, stanza 78, and in the Maitn-upanishad, p. 34.

Chapter 3

  1. Source marker 5. Either pride or, better, the false notion mentioned infra, p. 55.
  2. Source marker 0. An almost identical expression occurs in the Dhammapada, stanza 367, and Maitri-upanishad, p. 37.
  3. Source marker 7. The state of identification of oneself with the Brahman, which results from a correct knowledge of the Brahman.
  4. Source marker 8. Infra, p. 66. 5 Supra, p. 47.
  5. Source marker 1. I. e. not coupled with knowledge and purity of heart.
  6. Source marker 2. Cf. infra, pp. 1 21-128. 2 Hands, feet, &c.
  7. Source marker 4. Cf. infra, pp. 60, 61. Probably the 'sacrifices' spoken of in that passage must be taken to be the same as those referred to in the Creator's injunction mentioned in this passage.
  8. Source marker 6. Cf. Maitri-upanishad, p. 143.
  9. Source marker 1. The commentators explain this to mean that though the Vedas elucidate all matters, their principal subject is the sacrifice.
  10. Source marker 3. The distinctions here are rather nice, — an ordinary man is ' attached ' to worldly objects, is ' contented ' with goods &c, and is ' pleased ' with special gains.
  11. Source marker 4. Sridhara says that Argoina is here told to perform action, as freedom from it is only for the man of true knowledge, which Arjuna is not as yet.
  12. Source marker 5. I. e. final emancipation ; cf. p. 59 infra, and Ij-opanishad, p. 6.
  13. Source marker 2. The active principle is nature, the aggregate of the three qualities ; the soul is only the looker-on; cf. inter alia, p. 104 infra.
  14. Source marker 3. Scil. the difference of the soul from the collection of qualities, viz. the body, senses, &c, and from the actions of which they are the author.
  15. Source marker 4. Qualities (i. e. senses) deal with qualities, i. e. objects of sense.
  16. Source marker 2. I. e. all mundane affairs.
  17. Source marker 3. About the consequences of your actions.
  18. Source marker 2. Of actions, or of the Brahman in its various forms.
  19. Source marker 3. Which is the result of the virtues and vices of a preceding life. The sequence of ideas here is as follows : — The true view stated here about the ' difference from qualities and actions ' is disregarded by some, owing to their ' nature ' as now explained. Then the question is, If nature is so potent, what is the good of the *Sastras ? The answer is, Nature only acts through our likes and dislikes. Withstand them and then you can follow the *Sastras. It is under the influence of these likes and dislikes, that some may say, we shall practise duties prescribed for others (our own being bad ones) as they are equally prescribed by the -Sastras. That, as stated in the last sentence here, is wrong.
  20. Source marker 4. Cf. Sutta Nipata, p. ioi, as to 'likings and dislikings.

Chapter 4

  1. Source marker 2. Because its fruit is imperishable, viz. final emancipation.
  2. Source marker 3. In the Chandogya-upanishad, Manu is the channel of com- munication for some doctrine taught by Pra^apati, which Manu teaches the 'people/ interpreted by -Sankara to mean Ikshvaku, &c. (p. 1 78 ; see too p. 625).
  3. Source marker 1. Nature is what goes to the formation of the material form in which he is born; the 'power' includes knowledge, omnipotence, Sec. It is delusive because he is still really ' unborn.
  4. Source marker 2. Cf. Sutta Nipata, p. 73. 2 Cf. infra, p. 61.
  5. Source marker 4. I.e. I give to each worshipper what is proper for him.
  6. Source marker 5. The original words used here occur before in a different sense (see p. 55). Here the meaning is that to whomsoever directly ad- dressed, all worship is worship of me (see p. 84). In the whole passage, Kr/sh«a says that the Deity is not chargeable with partiality on account of the variety of human qualities and states,
  7. Source marker 2. Such as acquisition of sons, cattle, &c.
  8. Source marker 3. Devoted though performing all actions.
  9. Source marker 4. Appropriating nothing,' at Sutta Nipata, p. ioi, seems to be the same idea. ' Self just before this means senses.
  10. Source marker 5. Preferably, perhaps, ' with the body only.' But Sahkara rejects this.
  11. Source marker 6. Cf. infra, p. ioi ; and Sutta Nipata, p. 12.
  12. Source marker 2. The commentators vary in their interpretations of this word (mukta), but the common point appears to be ' free from attachment
  13. Source marker 3. worldly concerns.' Cf. Sutta Nipata, p. 8.
  14. Source marker 4. Sacrifice here apparently means every act for the attainment of
  15. Source marker 7. This thorough identification with the Brahman explains why the action is ' destroyed ' and does not ' fetter ' the doer.
  16. Source marker 1. I. e. all acts, religious and other, offered up to the Brahman in the mode above stated.
  17. Source marker 2. Practise ' yoga ' and other like exercises.
  18. Source marker 1. Remaining unattached to sensuous enjoyments.
  19. Source marker 2. Stopping the bodily operations mentioned, and engaging in contemplation.
  20. Source marker 3. This is called Brahmaya^wa, Ajvalayana Grihya-sutra III, 1, 3.
  21. Source marker 5. Maitri-upanishad, p. 129.
  22. Source marker 6. Supra, p. 53.
  23. Source marker 7. Operations of mind, senses, &c. ; cf. supra, p. 54.
  24. Source marker 1. I. e. knowledge.
  25. Source marker 2. Addressed to men of knowledge. Cf. Mu;^akopanishad, p. 282.

Chapter 5

  1. Source marker 3. Sutta Nipata, p. 49. 2 Cautious, free from heedlessness.
  2. Source marker 1. L e. one who has performed ' renunciation.
  3. Source marker 4. Those who follow the yoga { path.' The form is noteworthy, grammatically.
  4. Source marker 5. I. e. * attains true renunciation,' says .Sarikara ; «Srfdhara says, ' attains Brahman, after becoming a " renouncer."
  5. Source marker 7. Here self is explained as body ; in the line which goes before it is explained as heart.
  6. Source marker 3. These are the various operations of the organs of perception, action, &c.
  7. Source marker 4. A very common simile. Cf. inter alia ^andogya-upanishad, p. 276 ; Sutta Nipata, pp. 107-134 ; and Davids' Buddhism, p. 158 note.
  8. Source marker 2. Body = bathing, &c. ; mind = meditation, &c. ; understandings ascertainment of truth; senses =hearing and celebrating God's name.
  9. Source marker 3. Cf. Prajnopanishad, p. 202 ; -SVetajvatara, p. 332 ; Sutta Nipata, p. 52. The Ka//zopanishad has eleven portals (p. 132). The nine are the eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth, and the two for excretions.
  10. Source marker 4. As regards the Lord's relation to man's merit or sin.
  11. Source marker 5. As manifestations of Brahman, though of different qualities and classes. As to -SVapaka, a very low caste, see Sutta Nipata, p. 36.

Chapter 6

  1. Source marker 3. Cf. infra, p. 78. 2 P. 57 and Ka///opanishad, p. 157.
  2. Source marker 4. Which are required for ordinary religious rites.
  3. Source marker 5. Which are the cause of desires ; see supra, p. 50.
  4. Source marker 6. Abandonment of distracting actions; means scil. to perfect knowledge, says -Sridhara.
  5. Source marker 4. Self is here explained as mind, the unsteadiness of which prevents the acquisition of devotion, p. 71.
  6. Source marker 8. This means restraining senses by mind. See Maitn-upa- nishad, p. 180.
  7. Source marker 2. Supra, p. 57. 4 By any of the vexations of the world.
  8. Source marker 3. I.e. is free from affection or aversion towards them.
  9. Source marker 4. Self is here explained as senses ; in the previous clause as mind.
  10. Source marker 2. This requisite is prescribed by many authorities. Cf. ArMn- dogya-upanishad, p. 626; Maitn, p. 156; *SVeta.rvatara, pp. 318,319; and A^valayana (Gnhya-sutra) III, 2, 2, for Vedic study too.
  11. Source marker 3. Cf. Kumarasambhava, Canto III, 47. This is done in order to prevent the sight from rambling — a total closing of the eyes being objectionable as leading to sleep.
  12. Source marker 5. See these in Apastamba (p. 7 in this series) ; and cf. Sutla Nipata, pp. 159,160; and Max Muller's Hibbert Lectures, p. 158.
  13. Source marker 6. Buddhism shows similar injunctions. Cf. Sutta Nipata, pp. 21, 28, 95 ; and Dhammapada, stanza 8.
  14. Source marker 7. Sees the highest principle by a mind purified by abstraction.
  15. Source marker 2. Cf. SuttaNipata, p. 62. 3 Cf. supra, p. 53.
  16. Source marker 3. I. e. cease to think of objects of sense. Cf. supra, p. 69.
  17. Source marker 4. I.e. an undespairing and firm resolution that devotion will be achieved ultimately.
  18. Source marker 5. Realises the essential unity of everything.
  19. Source marker 6. He has access to me, and I am kind to him.
  20. Source marker 7. Cf. Ifopanishad, p. 13.
  21. Source marker 2. Even abandoning all action,' says Sridhara; and cf. infra, p. 105.
  22. Source marker 3. Who believes that pleasure and pain are as much liked or disliked by others as by himself, and puts himself in fact in the place of others.
  23. Source marker 4. Cf. Dhammapada, stanza 33 seq.
  24. Source marker 5. Cf. p. 73 infra.

Chapter 7

  1. Source marker 2. As distinguished from the others who work half-heartedly, so to say. See p. 72.
  2. Source marker 3. Some one ' in the original.
  3. Source marker 5. I. e. knowledge of the self. -Sahkara says, as to the next clause, that those even who work for final emancipation must be deemed to have 1 reached perfection.
  4. Source marker 5. 1 bhagavadgItA.
  5. Source marker 7. This accords with the Sankhya philosophy. See chapter I, sutra 6 1 of the current aphorisms.
  6. Source marker 8. Cf. infra, p. 105. 3 Cf. Mu//^akopanishad, p. 298.
  7. Source marker 9. Infra, p. 79. Cf. Goldstucker's Remains, I, 14, 122; Yoga- sutras I, 27.
  8. Source marker 2. I. e. the occult essence which underlies all these and the other qualities of the various things mentioned.
  9. Source marker 3. I.e. power to bear the pairs of opposites.
  10. Source marker 4. Glory here seems to mean dignity, greatness.
  11. Source marker 5. Desire is the wish to obtain new things ; fondness is the anxiety to retain what has been obtained. The strength here spoken of, therefore, is that which is applied to the periormance of one's own duties only.
  12. Source marker 2. I. e. indulged within the bounds allowed by the rules of the Sastras, namely, for the procreation of sons &c. only,
  13. Source marker 3. They do not dominate over me, I rule them.

Chapter 8

  1. Source marker 4. Concerning the supreme principle and the mode of wor- shipping it.
  2. Source marker 2. Cf. infra, p. 109. 3 See the next chapter.
  3. Source marker 2. Adhyatma where it occurs before (e. g. p. 55) has been ren- dered 'the relation between the supreme and individual soul/ As to
  4. Source marker 3. Some commentators say 'whatever thing' generally. The
  5. Source marker 4. form ' remembered in one's last moments would be that which had been most often meditated on during life.
  6. Source marker 5. Cf. supra, p. 67. 3 KaMa, p. 105 ; -SVetawatara, p. 333.
  7. Source marker 2. Cf. -SVeta\rvatara-upanishad, p. 327.
  8. Source marker 3. As to Brahma/J'arins, see supra, p. 69.
  9. Source marker 4. The senses,' say the commentators. Might it not refer to the 'nine portals' at p. 65 supra? See also, however, p. 108.
  10. Source marker 5. I. e. thinking of nothing, making the mind cease to work. Cf. Maitri-upanishad, p. 179.
  11. Source marker 7. Cf. Maitri-upanishad, p. 130, uninterrupted, like 'oil when poured out,' says the commentator.
  12. Source marker 2. Cf. Chandogya-upanishad, p. 151; Mandukya, pp. 330-388 (Om is all — past, present, and future); Nnsiwha Tapini, pp. no, 117, 171 ; Maitri, p. 140; Pra^na, p. 220. On the opening passage of the A7/andogya, »Sankara says, 'Om is the closest designation of the supreme Being. He is pleased when it is pronounced, as people are at the mention of a favourite name.' See also Max Miiller, Hibbert Lectures, p. 84; Goldstiicker's Remains, I, 122.
  13. Source marker 3. See infra, p. 86 ; and cf. Sutta Nipata, p. 125.
  14. Source marker 4. They are only temporary, not the everlasting seats of the soul.
  15. Source marker 5. Cf. Manu I, 73. -Sankara says, that this explains why the abodes of Brahma and others are said to be not lasting. They are limited by time. As to ages, -Sndhara says, a human year is a day and night of the gods. Twelve thousand years made of such days and nights make up the four ages: one thousand such ' quaternions of ages ' make up a day, and another thousand a night of Brahma. Of such days and nights Brahma has a hundred years to live. At the close of his life, the universe is destroyed.
  16. Source marker 2. Cf. p. 82 infra; also Manu-smr/ti I, 52 ; and Kalidasa's Ku- marasambhava II, 8.
  17. Source marker 3. Cf. KaMopanishad, p. 149 ; and also p. 112 infra.
  18. Source marker 4. I. e. by whom, as the cause of them, all these entities are sup- ported ; cf. p. 82 infra.

Chapter 9

  1. Source marker 3. Cf. Prajna-upanishad, p. 64 ; and -Sariraka Bhashya, p. 747 seq.
  2. Source marker 4. I. e. for those who are fitted for knowledge or action.
  3. Source marker 5. I. e. does not desire heaven, but devotes himself to the supreme Being, seeing that heavenly bliss is only temporary.
  4. Source marker 6. All that is stated in this chapter.
  5. Source marker 7. I. e. by immediate consciousness, not mediately ; 'not opposed to the sacred law,' i.e. like the .Syena sacrifice for destroying a foe.
  6. Source marker 1. Because he is untainted by anything. And therefore also the entities do not live in him, as said in the next sentence. See p. 8o
  7. Source marker 2. Supra, p. 58. Nature = the unperceived principle.
  8. Source marker 3. Cf. p. 80 supra.
  9. Source marker 4. Hope, viz. that some other deity will give them what they want ; acts, vain as not offered to the supreme : knowledge, vain as abounding in foolish doubts, &c.
  10. Source marker 6. Cf. p. 76 supra.
  11. Source marker 7. For a knowledge of the supreme, or for the means of such knowledge.
  12. Source marker 8. Vows = veracity, harmlessness, &c.
  13. Source marker 3. Sacrifice of knowledge, viz. the knowledge that Vasudeva is all; as one=believing that all is one ; as distinct = believing that sun, moon, &c. are different manifestations of ' me/
  14. Source marker 4. Kratu is a Vedic sacrifice ; Yagna, a sacrifice laid down in Smrztis. Svadha = offering to the manes; 'product of the herbs ' = food prepared from vegetables, or medicine.
  15. Source marker 5. Cf. p. 61 supra. 8 P. 79 supra.
  16. Source marker 0. I.e. the seat of enjoyment; receptacle = where things are pre- served for future use, say the commentators.
  17. Source marker 7. The gross and the subtle elements, or causes and effects.
  18. Source marker 8. Cf. Mu//^akopanishad, p. 279 ; and A^andogya, p. 344.
  19. Source marker 2. Cf. Dhammapada, stanza 23. I.e. attainment to the Brahman and not returning from it. — Ramanu£-a.
  20. Source marker 4. Because in form they worship other divinities.

Chapter 10

  1. Source marker 2. Cf. p. 79 supra.
  2. Source marker 3. As referring to the supreme soul.
  3. Source marker 4. As creator, as moving agent in workings of the intellect, &c.
  4. Source marker 5. The names are not always names of ' tempers,' but the corre- sponding ' temper' must be understood.
  5. Source marker 2. The words are also otherwise construed, ' The four ancients (Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana, Sanatkumara) and the Manus.' According to the later mythology the Manus are fourteen.
  6. Source marker 3. By the mere operation of my thought. As to ancients, cf. Aitareya-arawyaka, p. 136.
  7. Source marker 4. -Sahkara renders the word here by perseverance in pursuit of truth;
  8. Source marker 1. Anandagiri calls Asita father of Devala. See also Davids' Buddhism, p. 185 ; Max Muller's Anc. Sansk. Lit., p. 463.
  9. Source marker 2. Scil. in human form for the good of the gods and the destruc- tion of demons.
  10. Source marker 3. To know you fully being impossible, what special manifesta- tion of you should we resort to for our meditations ?
  11. Source marker 4. P. 129 infra.
  12. Source marker 5. Aditya is used in the Veda chiefly as a general epithet for a number of solar deities.' Max Miiller, Hibbert Lectures, p. 264.
  13. Source marker 7. The storm-gods, as Max Miiller calls them.
  14. Source marker 8. Cf. Sutta Nipata, p. 121.
  15. Source marker 9. Cf. iTMndogya, p. 121, where *Sarikara says, 'Mind is 'he chief of man's inner activities/
  16. Source marker 30. Now the third member of our Trinity.
  17. Source marker 1. Kubera. 10 The Golden Mount.
  18. Source marker 3. Gapa is the silent meditation. Madhusudana says it is superior owing to its not involving the slaughter of any animal, &c.
  19. Source marker 4. The fig tree. It is the symbol of ' life ' in chapter XV infra.
  20. Source marker 5. Those who even from birth are possessed of piety, knowledge, indifference to the world, and superhuman power. Cf. -SVeta- jvatara-upanishad, p. 357.
  21. Source marker 6. I.e. not the merely carnal passion. Cf. p. 74 supra.
  22. Source marker 7. Nagas are without poison, says *S'ridhara. Varu;/a is the sea-god.
  23. Source marker 8. Yama is death, and Pralhada the virtuous demon for whom Vishwu became incarnate as the man-lion. As to manes, see Goldstiicker's Remains, I, 133.
  24. Source marker 10. am the lord of beasts, and the son of Vinata.1 among birds. I am the wind among those that blow2. I am Rama :; among those that wield weapons. Among fishes I am Makara 4, and among streams the C/ahnavi "'. Of created things I am the begin- ning and the end and the middle also, O Arf una ! Among sciences, I am the science of the Adhyatma, and I am the argument of controversialists. Among letters I am the letter A 6, and among the group of compounds the copulative 7 compound. I myself am time inexhaustible, and I the creator whose faces are in all directions. I am death who seizes all, and the source of what is to be. And among females, fame s, fortune, speech, memory, intellect, courage, forgiveness. Likewise among Saman hymns, I am the Br/hat-saman 9, and I the Gayatri 10 among metres. I am Margasirsha among the months, the
  25. Source marker 1. I.e. the Garutf'a or eagle, who is the vehicle of Vish/m in Hindu mythology.
  26. Source marker 1. 4 Those who have the capacity of motion/ says Ramanuja.
  27. Source marker 3. The hero of the Hindu epos, Ramayawa, translated into verse by Mr. R. T. H. Griffiths.
  28. Source marker 6. The dolphin. 5 The Ganges.

Chapter 11

  1. Source marker 1. Madhusudana takes power to mean capacity of becoming small or great, of obtaining what is wanted, &c. ; the so-called eight Bhfitis.
  2. Source marker 2. Cf. p. 90 supra. £ankara explains it as meaning 'pervading everything.' The expression occurs in the Nr/siwha-tapinJ-upani- shad, p. 50, where it is said, ' as, without organs, it sees, hears, goes, takes from all sides and pervades everything, therefore it has faces on all sides/
  3. Source marker 2. Gods, manes, men, and so forth.
  4. Source marker 2. The words are the same as at p. 97 infra, where see the note.
  5. Source marker 1. Seeing signs of some great cataclysm, they say, ' May it be well with the universe,' and then proceed to pray to you.
  6. Source marker 2. I. e. Karna, who was really the eldest brother of the PaWavas, but having been immediately on birth abandoned by Kuntt, was brought up by a charioteer. Karna was told of his true origin by Bhishma on his deathbed, and advised to join the Pawr/avas, but he declined.
  7. Source marker 2. By reason of the ruggedness and distortion of face.
  8. Source marker 3. ( . Therefore, be up, obtain glory, and vanquishing (your) toes, enjoy a prosperous kingdom. All these have been already killed by me. Be only the in- strument, O Savyasa/'in 1 ! Drona, and Bhishma, and Gayadratha, and Kama, and likewise other valiant warriors also, whom I have killed, do you kill. Be not alarmed. Do fight. And in the battle you will conquer (your) foes.
  9. Source marker 3. Arjuna, as he could shoot with his left hand as well as the right. — .S'ridhara.
  10. Source marker 1. Arjuna, who had this coronet given him by Indra. — Madhu-
  11. Source marker 2. The commentators interpret this to mean the perceptible, the unperceived, and the higher principie. Cf. p. 84 supra, and also pp. 103, 113 infra and notes there.
  12. Source marker 1. See p. 94 supra. Here the commentators say the words mean ' that in which the universe is placed at deluge-time/

Chapter 12

  1. Source marker 3. Literally, ' entered into;' it means final emancipation. See p. 128.
  2. Source marker 4. Passively looking on what occurs on earth; immovable = changeless; constant = eternal.
  3. Source marker 3. Viz. the indestructible.
  4. Source marker 4. Literally, 'wish.' 6 Cf. p. 78 supra.
  5. Source marker 7. Performing actions, but dedicating them to me.
  6. Source marker 96. Fixing the mind with effort on the object of contemplation. Cf. Maitri-upanishad, p. 130.

Chapter 13

  1. Source marker 2. I retain the original for want of a good equivalent.
  2. Source marker 3. Cf. ^vetajvataropanishad, p. 368, and Maitri, pp. 25-72.
  3. Source marker 2. I. e. the Kshetrajna.
  4. Source marker 3. Hymns = scil. from the Vedas about ordinary or special actions and so forth. Argument = e. g. in texts like ' How can entity come from non-entity ? ' ' Who could breathe, if &c. ?
  5. Source marker 4. Cf. Aitareya-ara^yaka, p. 97. The subtle elements, e?*"th, fire, &c.f are meant. The unperceived= nature; the one=mind; courage = that by which the drooping body and senses are sup- ported ; egoism = self-consciousness — the feeling 'this is 1/
  6. Source marker 5. See the last page. Changes = development.
  7. Source marker 6. Internal as well as external ; as to devotion to a preceptor, cf. Apastamba, p. n (p. 23 in this series) ; Taittinya-upanishad, p. 38; iSVetajvatara, p. 117; and Sutta Nipata, p. 87 ; as to egoism, see p. 52 supra.
  8. Source marker 7. Cf. Sutta Nipata, pp. 18-95.
  9. Source marker 5. Cf. Sutta Nipata, p. 12. 5 Cf. Sutta Nipata, p. 11.
  10. Source marker 0. Viz. removal of ignorance and acquisition of happiness.
  11. Source marker 1. Words indicate a class, a quality, an action, or a relation, says Sankara. None of these can be predicated of the Brahman ; so you cannot apply either of these words to it. Cf. pp. 84, 96 supra, also -SVetajvatara, p. 346.
  12. Source marker 2. Cf. -Svetiijvatara, p. 331. He has no ears, but has the quality of hearing, and so forth; unattached = really out of relation to everything, though seeming to be connected with other things through delusion.
  13. Source marker 3. I. e. he perceives them.
  14. Source marker 4. Ijopanishad, p. 12 ; Mum/aka, p. 313.
  15. Source marker 5. Everything being really one. Cf. inter alia, p. 124 infra. The various manifestations of the Brahman are really one in essence, though apparently different, like foam and water.
  16. Source marker 6. Cf. p. 88.
  17. Source marker 2. Developments =body, senses, &c. Qualities=pleasure,pain,&c; altogether the expression means the body and feelings and so forth.
  18. Source marker 3. -Sridhara says that 1 is said to be ' means by Kapila and others. For the notion that activity is not a function of the soul, see inter alia, p. 55 supra. Enjoyment, however, is, according to this pas- sage, the function of the soul, not of nature. See also Maitri-upa- nishad, pp. 107, 108.

Chapter 14

  1. Source marker 1. Not to have true knowledge is equivalent to self-destruction. Cf. Lopanishad, pp. 9, 15, 16.
  2. Source marker 2. I. e. absorbed at the time of the deluge in nature, one of the energies of the supreme ; ' emanating/ i. e. at the time of creation.
  3. Source marker 3. Nature, which is the material cause from which all entities are produced; the destruction of it results from true knowledge of the soul. See the third note on p. 107 infra.
  4. Source marker 4. I. e. ' are not destroyed,' Madhusudana ; ' do not fall/ »Sankara ; ' are not born/ -Sndhara, and apparently Ramanuja.
  5. Source marker 5. I. e. the ' nature ' spoken of before.
  6. Source marker 6. These constitute nature. We must understand nature, with Professor BhaWarkar, as the hypothetical cause of the soul's feel- ing itself limited and conditioned. If nature is understood, as it usually is, to mean matter, its being made up of the qualities is inexplicable. Interpreted idealistically, as suggested by Professor BhaWarkar, the destruction of it spoken of at the close of the last chapter also becomes intelligible. By means of knowledge of the soul, the unreality of these manifestations is understood and nature is destroyed.
  7. Source marker 1. Pleasure and knowledge appertain to the mind, not the self, hence they are described as constituting bonds, when erroneously connected with the self, Sankara and £ndhara. They constitute ' bonds/ because the self when brought into contact with them, strives to obtain them, Ramanuja.
  8. Source marker 2. Carelessness about duty, owing to being intent on something else. Cf. Sutta Nipata, pp. 51-91; Dhammapada, stanza 21; Katha-upanishad, p. 152.
  9. Source marker 4. The effects of each quality assert themselves, when the other two are held in check. 3 I. e. the senses of perception.
  10. Source marker 5. Activity = always doing something or another; performance, &c;=rearing large mansions, &c. ; want of tranquillity = perpetual agitation of mind, ' this I will do now, then that, and next the other;' desire = to obtain everything that one comes across.
  11. Source marker 2. I. e. doing absolutely nothing.
  12. Source marker 1. The highest manifestations of Brahman, viz. the Hira^ya- garbha, &c, say 6ridhara and Madhusudana. NilakawMa also suggests that 1 those who know the highest ' means gods.
  13. Source marker 1. Lower creation, such as birds, beasts, &c.
  14. Source marker 4. Cf. Sulta Nipata, p. 15.
  15. Source marker 5. I.e. are born as gods, &c. ; 'middle,' as men, &c; 'down,' as brutes, &c.

Chapter 15

  1. Source marker 1. Cf. Ka//$opanishad, p. 70, Sutta Nipata, p. 76.
  2. Source marker 2. Ai-vattha stands here for the course of worldly life. Its roots are above, viz. the supreme being : its boughs are Hiraz/yagarbha and others of the higher beings. The Vedas are its leaves, pre- serving it as leaves preserve trees (another interpretation is that they are the causes of the fruit which the tree bears, i. e. salvation, &c.) Upwards and downwards, from the highest to the lowest of created things. Enlarged = the qualities manifesting themselves, as body, senses, &c. ; objects of sense are sprouts as they are at- tached to the senses, which are the tips of the branches above slated, The roots which extend downwards are the desires for various
  3. Source marker 2. Cf. KaMopanishad, p. 142; Mu;z</aka, p. 304; Nrrsimha- Lapini, p. 106; 6'vcta^vatara, p. no.
  4. Source marker 3. Five senses and the mind issue from nature, in which they are absorbed during sleep or at a dissolution of the world. Cf. Sutta Nipata, p. 44.
  5. Source marker 4. Cf. Kaushitaki-upanishad, pp. 86, 87.
  6. Source marker 5. Perceiving objects of sense, or feeling pleasure, pain, &c.
  7. Source marker 2. 1 Selfs* == bodies, Ramanuja and Sridhara ; 'understandings, .Sankara. In the next sentence 'self* means mind.
  8. Source marker 3. Cf. Maitri-apanishad, p. 142. This sentence continues what has been stated at the top of the page. The intervening
  9. Source marker 4. Entering in the form of the goddess earth,' say Anandagiri and Madhusudana. Support, i. e. by keeping the earth from falling or crumbling away. The moon is said to nourish herbs by commu- nicating to them some of her ' juice.' The moon, it may be noted, is called ' watery star ' by Shakespeare. As to her relation to the vegetable kingdom, see Matsya-purawa XXIII, stanza 10 seq.
  10. Source marker 6. I. e. what is drunk, what is licked, what is powdered with the teeth, and what is eaten without such powdering.
  11. Source marker 14. Cf. p. 104 supra.

Chapter 16

  1. Source marker 2. Cf. p. 129 infra. Here Sankara paraphrases it by ' thinking me to be the soul of everything.
  2. Source marker 2. Cf. Sutta Nipata, p. 49. 3 See next chapter.
  3. Source marker 3. Sutta Nipata, pp. 15, 101.
  4. Source marker 5. Scil. to birth and death in this world.
  5. Source marker 2. What should be done for the attainment of real good, and what should not be done as productive of mischief. See too p. 125.
  6. Source marker 3. I. e. contains nothing that is entitled to belief, as the Vedas, &c.
  7. Source marker 4. No principle based on virtue and vice in the government of the world.
  8. Source marker 7. Such as that by propitiating a certain divinity by a certain rite they may obtain treasure and so forth.
  9. Source marker 8. Till their last moments, thinking of making new acquisitions and preserving old ones.
  10. Source marker 16. Blessed with children, &c. -Sridhara takes it to mean, ' one who has done all he need do/ and Ramanuja ' sufficient in himself.
  11. Source marker 1. I.e. get higher renown for sacrifices than others.
  12. Source marker 2. That is, because of indulgence in vanity, &c. Vanity = believing oneself to have virtues which one has not; arrogance = proud dis- dain of others.
  13. Source marker 3. There is trouble to oneself in sacrifices and to the animals killed for them.
  14. Source marker 4. I. e. of God.

Chapter 17

  1. Source marker 4. I.e. rendering the self unfit for any of the highest ends of man.
  2. Source marker 2. Here, says &idhara, it is laid down that the triad is not to be got rid of save by following scripture rules.
  3. Source marker 3. I. e. the result of the actions in a former birth, cf. p. 56 supra.
  4. Source marker 4. The hearts of gods are said to be good, those of Yakshas &c. passionate, those of men mixed, and so forth.
  5. Source marker 3. Faith is the dominant principle in man, and he is good, pas- sionate, or dark, as his faith is.
  6. Source marker 2. Goldstiicker, Remains, I, 154.
  7. Source marker 3. Troublesome to oneself and others, as standing or. heated stones, &c. 'Egoism' (Ahankara) = the feeling that one is worthy of honour, NilakawMa.

Chapter 18

  1. Source marker 22. I. e. either the Brahman itself, or sacrifice, penance, and gift.
  2. Source marker 1. Cf. Sutta Nipata, p. 69.
  3. Source marker 2. The meaning of this whole passage seems to be that these three words, which designate the Brahman, have distinct uses, as specified. ' Om,' says Nilaka;/Ma, is employed whether the action is done with any special desire or not. Those who study the Brahman there means ' study the Vedas.' ' Tad ' is employed in case of actions without desires only. ' Sat 1 is employed, according to *Sankara, in case of existence, such as the birth of a first son ; 'goodness/ the reclamation of a bad man ; 'auspicious acts,' mar- riage, &c. The intelligent use of these terms as here specified is said to cure any defects in the actions, the various classes of which are mentioned before.
  4. Source marker 4. Without delusion no such abandonment will occur.
  5. Source marker 5. Namely, final emancipation, by means of purity of heart.
  6. Source marker 2. I.e. who has the frame of mind necessary for a good aban- donment.
  7. Source marker 5. Such as bathing at midday in summer. 5 Cf. p. 53 supra.
  8. Source marker 2. The original is sannyasi, but Sridhara is probably right in taking it to mean one who has command of 'abandonment.' -Sahkara and Madhusudana, however take the word in its ordinary sense of ' ascetic/ What follows explains, says *SVidhara, why ' the fruit does not accrue to renouncers.
  9. Source marker 3. Sahkara and Madhusudana say this means Vedanta-^astra. -Sridhara suggests also the alternative Sahkhya-jastra. Substratum = the body, in which desire, aversion, &c. are manifested ; agent = one who egoistically thinks himself the doer of actions; organs = senses of perception, action, &c. ; movements =of the vital breaths in the body ; deities = the deities which preside over the eye and other senses (as to this cf. Aitareya-upanishad, p. 45 ; Piuma, pp. 216, 217; Muw^aka, p. 314 ; Aitareya-araz/yaka, pp. 88-270; and Max Muller's Hibbert Lectures, p. 204, note). 8 Cf. p. 106.
  10. Source marker 4. Egoism = the feeling that he is the doer of the action; taint = the feeling that the fruit of the action must accrue to him.
  11. Source marker 5. Knowledge, i. e. that something is a means to what is desired ; object is the means ; the knower is he who has this knowledge. When these co-exist we have action. The instrument = senses, &c. [8] 1
  12. Source marker 7. The system of Kapila. 2 Cf. p. 104.
  13. Source marker 2. Cf. KaZ/fopanishad, p. 129.
  14. Source marker 3. Reason = argument in support; real principle = truth, view of things as they are ; insignificant, i. e. in comprehensiveness.
  15. Source marker 2. I.e. 'pride of learning/ &c, -Sahkara ; 'egoism,' Ramanug-a.
  16. Source marker 3. I.e. ' for children,' &c, according to *Sridhara ; 'for the action,' according to others.
  17. Source marker 2. I.e. attention to work; melancholy = always desponding and wanting in energy.
  18. Source marker 3. The nature of the faculty of understanding ; and courage is the firmness of that faculty.
  19. Source marker 4. See p. 115. -Sankara takes these to mean the ' paths ' of action and knowledge, and Nilaka;/Ma takes the next expression to mean that which is constant and that which is not constant — nitya, anitya.
  20. Source marker 5. Always co-existing with mental abstraction and supporting it.
  21. Source marker 6. Three of the aims of mankind, the highest being final emanci- pation. In the view of the Gila, piety, leading only to heaven, is of doubtful benefit.
  22. Source marker 2. 26
  23. Source marker 3. Not at once, as in the case of sensuous pleasures.
  24. Source marker 5. Cf. p. 51. The original has also been rendered by ' tranquillity of one's own mind/
  25. Source marker 6. Cf. p. 59.
  26. Source marker 1. I.e. resulting from control of the mind, purity here is both external and internal. And see p. 119.
  27. Source marker 2. I. e. in battle, Nilakaw/^a seems to say. Sankara says it means ready resource whenever occasion arises.
  28. Source marker 3. I.e. 'power to restrain people from going astray,' Nilaka/////a.
  29. Source marker 5. Eligibility for the path of knowledge. « Cf. p. 56.
  30. Source marker 7. Cf. p. 121 ; the evil appears to be the quality of * fettering ' the soul.
  31. Source marker 8. iSridhara compares p. 65 (V, 13) and distinguishes this from p. 64 (V, 8 seq.) .S'aiikara says the perfection here spoken of is emancipation, and it is obtained by true knowledge.
  32. Source marker 2. Abstraction is concentrated and exclusive meditation, -Sahkara. The other commentators take dhyanayoga as meditation simply, — as treated of in chapter VI, says Nilaka;////a.
  33. Source marker 3. See p. 52.
  34. Source marker 5. I. e. comprehending his identity with the Brahman.