Book 12 edition notes 1–100

Literally, the period of impurity. The period of mourning is the period of impurity, according to the Hindu scriptures. By performing the Sraddha rite, one becomes pure again. Till then, one can perform no religious rites.

Literally, "shall not appear to thee by inward light."

The meaning is this, "This weapon shall not dwell with thee up to thy last moments. Thou shalt forget it or it shall not appear at thy bidding, when thy death becomes nigh, though at other times, thou mayst be master of it."

The Kurus, our foes, having fallen in battle, have all gone to heaven, while grief has become our lot.

Sanjata Valaratnesu is the true reading.

The Bombay reading Jayaphalam is correct. The Bengal reading Jammaphalam, however, is not unmeaning.

What Yudhishthira says here is this: all the warriors that have been slain in this battle have perished, they have not attained to heaven; if, indeed, heaven has been theirs, then the slayers too would obtain heaven, the scriptural ordinance having said so. It is impossible, however, to suppose that men of wrath who have done such wicked deeds should obtain such regions of bliss hereafter.

Pairs of opposites, such as heat and cold, joy and grief, etc. Comp. Gita.

Because wealth enables its possessor to practise the rites of religion.

The sense is that when I will not wrong the denizens of even the woods, there is little chance of my wronging men of the world.

There is a class of recluses who support life by gathering the fallen fruits of trees. Taking the tree for a living person, they walk under its shade and beg of it its fruits. Those fruits that fall down on such occasions are regarded as the alms granted by the tree to its mendicant guest.

All the possessions of a man depend upon the acts of a previous life. Wives, children and kinsmen, therefore, as agents of happiness or the reverse, depend upon one's past acts. They are effects of pre-existing causes. Then again, they may be causes of effects to be manifested in the next life, for their acts also are supposed to affect the next life of him to whom they belong.

i.e., they for whom he acts do not take the consequences of his acts.

Bhagena is explained by Nilakantha as swargaisysaryena.

The sense is that as the Ordainer cannot be censured, therefore, that which He has ordained for the Kshatriyas cannot be deserving of censure.

The meaning is that they who perform sacrifice and partake of the sacrificial food after offering it unto gods and guests, acquire such religious merit that the like of it cannot be acquired by other men. Sacrifice, therefore, is the highest act in life and the most meritorious that man can do.

The iti after vadi is really eti, the absence of sandhi in the proper form is Arsha. Literally rendered, the line becomes,--According to the manner in which the person of firm conviction approaches the Soul, is the success that he gets here. As the Srutis declare, if one firmly regards oneself to be Siva, the success one attains here and hereafter is after the kind of that deity.

The brevity of such passages is the chief obstacle to their clear comprehension. Fortunately the allusions are very plain. What is meant is that those who die during the lighted fortnights of the summer solstice attain to solar regions of bliss. Those that die during the dark fortnights of the winter solstice, attain to lunar regions. These last have to return after passing their allotted periods of enjoyment and happiness. While those that are freed from attachments, whatever the time of their Death, go to Stellar regions which are equal to that of Brahma.

Without attaining to the companionship of the gods and Pitris, and without obtaining Brahma, they sink in the scale of being and become worms and vermin.

The sense is that the gods themselves have become so by action.

The first word is compounded of an and astika.

Deva-yana is the Yana or way along which the deities have gone, the strict observance of the Vedic rites.

Renouncer of his own self, because he dries up his very body by denying himself food.

Such a person also is not a true renouncer. For a Kshatriya, again, such a mode of life would be sinful.

Nilakantha thinks that the object of this verse is to show that even such a life properly appertains to a Brahmana and not to a Kshatriya. Therefore, if Yudhishthira would, without reigning, live quietly in the kingdom governed by some brother of his, he would then be equally sinning.

Acts done from vanity, i.e., with the bragging consciousness of one being himself the actor and the arranger of everything. Acts done from a spirit of renunciation, i.e., without hope of reaping their fruits.

The threefold aims, i.e., Religion, Pleasure and Profit.

Antarala is thus explained by Nilakantha.

Sariram is contra-distinguished from Vahyam. The first is explained as appertaining to or encased in Sarira, i.e., the mind.

What Sahadeva wishes to say is that everything proceeds from selfishness is productive of death, while everything proceeding from an opposite frame of mind leads to Brahma or immortality.

The meaning entirely depends upon the word Swabhavam, manifestation of self. In the second line, if Vrittam be read for Bhutam the sense would remain unaltered.

The three kinds of angas referred to, as explained by Nilakantha are (1) the strength that depends on the master, (2) that depending on good counsels, and (3) that depending on the perseverance and the courage of the men themselves.

Literally, "crushed with the rod of chastisement."

Censure is the only punishment for a Brahmana offender. A Kshatriya may be punished by taking away all property, but care should be taken to give him food sufficient for maintaining life. A Vaisya should be punished by forfeiture of possessions. There is practically no punishment for a Sudra, for being unable to possess wealth, dispossession of wealth cannot be a punishment in his case; again, service being his duty, the imposition of labour on him cannot be a punishment. For all that, hard work may be imposed upon him.

A fisherman who would not slay fish would go without food.

The sense is that if in supporting life one kills these creatures, he does not in any way commit sin.

Bhoga is explained by Nilakantha as Palanaya (maryyadaya).

The meaning seems to be that the milch cow suffers herself to be milked, only through fear of chastisement, and maidens also marry, without practising free love, through fear of chastisement by the king, society, or Yama in the next world.

If this does not come up to the grossness of the doctrine--spare the rod and ruin the child,--it at least is plain that the fear of being regarded a dunce and a fool and incurring the ridicule or displeasure of the tutor and class-mates, induces one to acquire knowledge.

The illustration used by the commentator is that it is better to kill the tiger that has invaded the fold than remain quiet for fear of injuring that beast of prey and commit sin. For that slaughter there is merit, for if not slaughtered, the beast will slaughter the kine before the spectator's eyes and the latter would incur sin by passively witnessing the sight. At any rate, to be more general, it is better to injure, says Arjuna, from righteous motives than not to injure from fear of sin.

Otherwise named phlegm, bile and wind.

The sense is that thou wert ever superior to joy and grief and never sufferedst thyself, to be elated with joy or depressed with grief.

The argument seems to be this: if it is thy nature to call back thy woes even when happiness is before thee, why dost thou not then recollect the insult to your wife? The recollection of this insult will fill thee with wrath and convince thee that in slaying thy foes,--those insulters of thy wife--thou hast acted very properly.

The meaning is that in consequence of thy abandonment of prosperity and kingdom and, therefore, of the means of effecting thy salvation by sacrifice and gifts and other act of piety, thou shalt have to be re-born and to renew this mental battle with thy doubts.

This is a difficult verse, and I am not sure that I have understood it correctly. Gantavyam is explained by Nilakantha as connected with paramavyaktarupasya. According to Nilakantha, this means that thou shouldst go to, i.e. conquer, and identify thyself with, the param or foe of that which is of unmanifest form, the mind; of course, this would mean that Yudhishthira should identify himself with his own soul, for it is the soul which is his foe and with which he is battling. Such conquest and identification implies the cessation of the battle and, hence, the attainment of tranquillity.

The condition of Draupadi's lock,--i.e., thou hast been restored to the normal condition. Draupadi had kept her locks dishevelled since the day they had been seized by Duhsasana. After the slaughter of the Kurus, those locks were bound up as before, or restored to their normal condition.

The Bengal tiger acts as a fisher to both animals and men. When the tiger goes on a fishing expedition, what it usually does is to catch large fishes from shallow streams and throw them landwards far from the water's edge. The poor beast is very often followed, unperceived, by the smaller carnivorous animals, and sometimes by bands of fishermen. I have seen large fishes with the claw-marks of the tiger on them exposed for sale in a village market.

The sense seems to be that unless kings perform such penances they cannot escape hell. Such penances, however, are impossible for them as long as they are in the midst of luxuries. To accept wealth and not use it, therefore, is impracticable.

i.e., Thou art not liberated from desire.

The false speech, in this instance, consists in professing one's self to be really unattached while enjoying wealth and power, i.e., the hypocritical profession of renunciation in the midst of luxuries. As already said by Yudhishthira, such renunciation is impracticable.

The path of the Pitris means the course of Vedic rites by which one attains to bliss hereafter. The path of the gods means the abandonment of religious rites for contemplation and pious conduct.

This truth has been expressed in various forms of language in various passages of the Mahabharata. The fact is, the unification of infinite variety and its identification with the Supreme Soul is attainment of Brahma. One, therefore, that has attained to Brahma ceases to regard himself as separate from the rest of the universe. Selfishness, the root of sin and injury, disappears from him.

i.e., Sacrifice.

Literally, 'thy resolution is of one kind, while thy acts are of another kind!'

Paratantreshu is explained by Nilakantha as "dependent on destiny." If this means the fate that connects one's present life with the acts of a former one, the explanation is not incorrect. The more obvious meaning, however, is "dependent on action."

A wedded wife is the companion of one's religious acts.

Thou shouldst not, therefore, abandon action.

The meaning seems to be this: if a person can truly act up to his resolution of complete renunciation of everything, then that person stands alone in the midst of the world, and he is nobody's, and nobody is his. Hence, he can neither be pleased nor displeased with any one. King Janaka's abandonment, therefore, of wife and kingdom, is inconsistent with that perfect renunciation or withdrawal of self within self. He might continue to enjoy his possessions without being at all attached to or affected by them.

Such libations, to be efficacious, ought to be poured upon fires properly kindled with mantras.

Therefore, Janaka should resume his kingdom and practise charity; otherwise, religious mendicants would be undone.

Such an man might rule even a kingdom without forfeiting his title to be regarded a mendicant, for he might rule without attachment.

Refers to the well-known definition of the soul or mind in the Nyaya philosophy, which says that it is distinguished by the attributes of desire, aversion, will, pleasure and pain, and the cognitive faculties.

The soul, though really bereft of attributes, nevertheless revolves in a round among creatures, i.e., enters other bodies on the dissolution of those previously occupied. The reason of this round or continual journey is Avidya or illusion, viz., that absence of true knowledge in consequence of which men engage themselves in action. When the soul is freed from this Avidya, action ceases, and the soul becomes revealed in its true nature, which consists in the absence of all attributes.

Hetumantah Panditah means--learned in the science of reasoning; Dridhapurve is explained by Nilakantha as persons endued with strong convictions of a past life: Suduravartah means difficult of being made to understand.

The sense is that instead of performing sacrifices after acquisition of wealth, it is better not to perform sacrifices if they cannot be performed without wealth. Nilakantha, by interpreting Dhanahetu as sacrifices which have wealth for the means of their accomplishment, would come to this meaning directly.

Atmanam is explained by Nilakantha as meaning something that is regarded as dear as self, i.e., wealth. Such a person incurs the sin of killing a foetus, because that sin proceeds from killing one's own self. Improper use of wealth is, of course, regarded as killing one's own self.

The Srutis declare that he who frightens others is frightened himself; while he who frightens not, is not himself frightened. The fruits won by a person correspond with his practices. Yudhishthira is, therefore, exhorted to take the sovereignty, for sovereignty, righteously exercised and without attachment, will crown him with bliss hereafter.

Naikam na chapare is explained by Nilakantha thus. Literally, this means that it is not that others do not (praise) ekam or contemplation, i.e., some there are that praise contemplation or meditation.

Literally, the absence of contentment with present prosperity.

Adadana is explained as a robber or one who forcibly takes other people's property. Some texts read nareswarah. The sense should remain unaltered.

Manu also mentions a sixth of the produce as the king's share.

Santyakatatma is explained by Nilakantha as without pride or resigned self.

Yoga is explained as vigour in action, nyasa as the abandonment of pride.

And that have, by their death, escaped from all grief.

Murcchitah is explained by Nilakantha as Vardhitah.

True knowledge is knowledge of Brahma. What is said here is that our conduct (acts) should be framed according to the opinion of persons possessed of such knowledge.

What the poet says here is this: it is better not to wish for or covet wealth as a means for the performance of sacrifices than to covet it for performing sacrifices. A poor man will act better by not performing sacrifices at all than by performing them with wealth acquired by the usual means.

The meaning is that I must undergo such a severe penance in order that in my next life I may not be born as an inferior animal but succeed in taking birth among men.

Even such i.e., spring from such causes.

Man covets freedom from decay and immortality, but instead of obtaining what he covets for, decay and death become his portion on Earth.

i.e., these appear and disappear in the course of Time.

Literally, the science of Life.

This inevitable and broad path is the path of Life. What is said here is that every creature is subject to birth.

The first line of this verse refers to the disputed question of whether the body exists independent of life, or the creature exists independent of the body. This is much disputed by Hindu philosophers. The gross body may be dissolved, but the linga sarira (composed of the subtlest elements) exists as a cause for the unborn Soul. This is maintained by many.

Param here is explained by Nilakantha as Paramatma. Pay court i.e., seek to obtain and enjoy them.

This sacrifice is one in which the performer parts with all his wealth.

Vasumati means possessed of wealth (from Vasu and the syllable mat).

The Bengal reading chainam in the first line of 31 is better than the Bombay reading chetya, which, Nilakantha explains, means chetanavan bhava.

These seven sacrifices were the Agnishtoma, the Atyagnishtoma, the Ukthya, the Shodashi, the Vajapeya, the Atiratra, and the Aptoryama. Each of these required the consecration of the Soma.

The expression used is "He caused one umbrella only to be set up." The custom is well-known that none but kings could cause umbrellas to be held over their heads.

Kanwa had brought up in his retreat Bharata's mother Sakuntala who had been deserted, immediately after her birth, by her mother, Menaka, Bharata himself was born in Kanwa's retreat.

Jaruthyan is explained by Nilakantha as Stutyan. It may also mean Triguna-dakshinan.

The legend about the bringing down of Ganga is very beautiful. Ganga is nothing else than the melted form of Vishnu. For a time she dwelt in the pot (Kamandalu) of Brahman. The ancestors of Bhagiratha having perished through Kapila's curse, Bhagiratha resolved to rescue their spirits by calling down Ganga from heaven and causing her sacred waters to roll over the spot where their ashes lay. He succeeded in carrying out his resolution after conquering many difficulties. Urvasi literally means one who sits on the lap.

Triple-coursed, because Ganga is supposed to have one stream in heaven, one on the earth, and a third in the nether regions.

The sense, I think, is that such was the profusion of Dilipa's wealth that no care was taken for keeping gold-decked elephants within guarded enclosures.

Satadhanwan is explained by Nilakantha as one whose bow is capable of bearing a hundred Anantas.

Literally, "Me he shall suck."

The Burdwan translators take Asita and Gaya as one person called Asitangaya, and K.P. Singha takes Anga and Vrihadratha to be two different persons. Of course, both are wrong.

Samyapat is explained as hurling a heavy piece of wood. What it meant here is that Yayati, having erected an altar, took up and hurled a piece of wood forward, and upon the place where it fell, erected another altar. In this way he proceeded till he reached the very sea shore.

Dakshinah is explained by Nilakantha as men possessed of Dakshya. It may mean liberal-minded men.