Book 13 edition notes 301–400

The second line is exceedingly terse. The sense seems to be this: one who is of low birth must remain low in disposition. Absolute goodness may arise in his heart, but it disappears immediately without producing any effect whatsoever. The study of the scriptures, therefore, cannot raise such a person. On the other hand, the goodness which according to its measure has ordained for one (1) the status of humanity and (2) the rank in that status, is seen to manifest itself in his act.

The son begotten upon a maiden by one who does not become her husband, and born after her marriage, is regarded as belonging not to the begetter but to the husband.

Such a son becomes the property of the mother's husband and not of his begetter. If however, the begetter expresses a wish to have him and rear him, he should be regarded as the begetter's. The principle upon which he becomes the child of the mother's husband is that the begetter conceals himself and never wishes to have him.

The objects of Yudhishthira's question will appear clearly from the answer given to it by Bhishma.

There is no fault in kine, etc., and kine are like fire etc. The Hindu idea is that kine are cleansing or sanctifying. The Rishis discovered that the magnetism of the cow is something that is possessed of extraordinary virtues. Give the same kind of food to a cow and a horse. The horse-dung emits an unhealthy stench, while the cowdung is an efficacious disinfectant. Western science has not yet turned its attention to the subject, but there can be little doubt that the urine and dung of the cow possess untold virtues.

Saptopadam mitram means that by speaking only seven words or walking only seven steps together, two persons, if they be good, become friends.

Vajrasuchyagram may also mean furnished with an end like that of the needle with which diamonds and other hard gems are bored through.

The ever-changing beautiful masses of afternoon or evening clouds, presenting diverse kinds of forms almost every minute, are regarded as the abodes or mansions of the Gandharvas.

Some of these trees and creepers are identifiable. Sahakara is Mangifera Indica, Linn. Ketaka is a variety of Pandanus Odoratissimus, Linn. Uddalaka is otherwise called Vahuvara and sometimes Selu. It is the Cordia Myxa, Linn. It may be a misreading for Uddanaka, which is the well-known Cirisha or the Mimosa Sirisca of Roxburgh. Dhava is Conocarpus latifolia, Roxb. Asoka is Saraca Indica, Linn., syn, Jonesia Asoka, Roxb. Kunda is Jasminum pubescens, Linn. Atimukta is otherwise called Madhavi. It is Gaertinera racemosa, Roxb. Champaka is Michelia Champaca, Linn. Tilaka sometimes stands for Lodhra, i.e., Symplocos racemosa, Roxb. The word is sometimes used for the Aswattha or Ficus religiosa, Linn. Bhavya is Dillenia Indica, Linn. Panasa is Artocarpus integrifolia, Linn. The Indian Jack-tree. Vyanjula stands for the Asoka, also Vetasa (Indian cane), and also for Vakula, i.e., Mimusops Elengi, Linn. Karnikara is Pterospermum accrifolium, Linn. Cyama is sometimes used for the Pilu, i.e., Salvadora Persica, Linn. Varanapushpa or Nagapushpa or Punnaga is Colophyllum inophyllum, Linn. Astapadika or padika is otherwise called Bhardravalli. It is the Vallaris dichotoma, Wall., Syn., Echites dichotoma, Roxb.

Bhringaraja is the Lanius Malabaricus. Kokila is the well-known Indian Koel or cuckoo. Catapatra is the wood-pecker. Koyashtika is the Lapwing. Kukkubhas are wild-cocks (Phasinus gallus). Datyuhas are a variety of Chatakas or Gallinules. Their cry resembles the words (phatikjal). Jivajivaka is a species of partridges. Chakora is the Greek partridge. Sarasa is the Indian crane. Chakravaka is the Brahmini duck or goose.

In verse 39 and 40 for asmi and tapacchaitat read asi and tapasaccha.

The Grandsire spoke of somebody becoming a Kshatriya in Bhrigu's race, and referred to the incident as the result of a stain that would be communicated to that race from Kusika's. This is the full allusion.

The sense seems to be that Kusika wishes to know what person of Bhrigu's race will confer this high benefit upon his race.

By ancestors to the seventh degree also descendants to the same degree are meant.

Heaven and Hell are places of only enjoyment and endurance. There can be no acts there leading to merit or demerit. This world is the only place which is called the field of acts.

Vrikshas are large or small trees generally. Gulma is a shrub, or bushy plant. Lata is a creeper, which cannot grow without a support. Talli is of the same variety, with this difference, perhaps, that its stems are more tree-like than those of creepers. Twaksara is the bamboo. Trina includes all kinds of grass.

The commentator explains that the drift of Yudhishthira's query is this: the giver and the receiver do not meet in the next world. How then can an object given away return or find its way back to the giver in the next world or next life?

Abhimanat is differently understood by the commentator.

Yuktaih is the better reading, although muktaih may not be erroneous. Yuktain is charaih; while muktath is 'men charged with a commission to do a thing'.

This sacrifice is the sacrifices of gifts. 'Spreading out a sacrifice' means 'spreading out the articles and placing them in proper order in view of the sacrifice.' 'Dadatah vartotam' means datustaya saryanastu.

The sense is this: gifts made to such superior Brahmanas serve to free a person from the debts which he owes to the deities. The 'water of gifts' means the water that the giver sprinkles, with a blade of Kusa grass, over the article given away, saying, 'I give this away'. In the sacrifice constituted by gifts, such water is like the dedication of offerings to the Pitris. A knowledge of the ritual of sacrifice is needed to understand and appreciate the figures employed in such verses.

Some texts read tathabham, meaning abhayam or fearlessness is from them--Tathobhayam (which I adopt) is that both, Heaven and Hell become one's through them; if gratified, they bestow Heaven; if angry, they hurl into Hell.

Yachyam is yachanarupamkarma, Anisasya is daridrasya. Abhiharam is tirashkaram. Yachanti bhutani means those who beg or solicit. In the Santi Parva, Bhishma in one place directs beggars to be driven away from towns and cities as annoyers of respectable people. This, however, applies to professional beggars, and not persons in real distress.

Antarvedyan is within the platform; and Anrisamsyatah is vahirvedyan or outside the platform.

Sacrifices are a means of giving away unto the Brahmanas.

Weeping women means women of destitute condition and, therefore, unable to pay.

The first word in the first line is not kshatam but kritam.

The Commentator explains that because giver by one that is dear or given to one that is dear, therefore is she called Priyadatta.

This is evidently a crux. Prasamsanti means generally praise. Here it means reproach or censure. The second line may also mean, his enemies dare not attack his kingdom.

This is the utterance or declaration of the earth herself.

Rich with every taste; the idea is that things have six tastes, viz., sweet, sour, etc. The quality of taste is drawn by things from the soil or earth. The tastes inhere in earth, for it is the same earth that produces the sugarcane and the tamarind.

Sparsitam is dattam.

The Bombay reading adityatastansha is better than the Bengal reading adityataptansha.

What Yudhishthira wishes to know is what conjunctions should be utilized for making what particular gifts.

Payasa is rice boiled in sugared milk. It is a sort of liquid food that is regarded as very agreeable.

Vardhamana, Sarava or Saravika. It is a flat certain cup or dish.

Phanita is the inspissated juice of the sugarcane.

A prasanga is a basket of bamboo or other material for covering paddy.

Rajamasha is a kind of bean. It is the Vinga sinensis, syn. Dilicheos sinensis Linn.

There may be akama and sakama acts, i.e., acts without desires of fruit and acts with desires of fruit. A Sraddha with Tila or sesame should never be done without desire for fruit.

When a residential house is given away unto such a Brahmana and the receiver resides in it, the giver reaps the reward indicated. It does not refer to the hospitable shelter to such a Brahmana given by one in one's own house.

To this day, in Bengal at least, a tenant never performs the first Sraddha or a Puja (worship of the deities) without obtaining in the first instance the permission of the landlord. There is in Sraddhas a Rajavarana or royal fee payable to the owner of the earth on which the Sraddha is performed.

Tasyam is explained by the commentator as kritayam.

Kinasa is either one who tills the soil with the aid of bulls or one who slays cattle. Having first mentioned vadhartham, kinasa should here be taken for a tiller. Kasai, meaning butcher, seems to be a corruption of the word kinasa.

One need not dedicate unto one's deities any other food than what one takes oneself. In the Ramayana it has been said that Rama offered unto the Pitris astringent fruits while he was in exile. The Pisachas dedicate carrion unto their deities for they themselves subsist upon carrion.

The first line of 13 and the last line of 14 are very terse: Kalasya vihitam, as explained by the Commentator, is ayuh pramanam, na prapnami is na janami. The sense is that 'unurged by time, I cannot allow these to take up my residence here.'

i.e., invite Brahmanas to feasts in which sesame should predominate.

In Bengal, to this day, those who can afford, particularly pious ladies, establish shady resting places in the month of Vaisakha (the hottest month of the year), by the side of the public roads, for travellers, where good cool drinking water, a handfull of well-drenched oats, and a little of raw sugar, are freely distributed. Such institutions, on the old Benares Road and the Grand Trunk Road, considerably refresh travellers. There are miles upon miles along these roads where good water is not at all procurable.

What is meant by the giving of lamps is the placing of lighted lamps in dark places which are the resorts of men, such as roads and ghats, etc.

Of equal name, because the word go means cow, earth, and speech.

No particular number is intended. What is meant is--innumerable.

The 'hence' in the last line has reference to what has been said before on the subject of kine, and not to the first line of the verse.

Vitasokaih in the instrumental plural refers to Bhavanaih or some such substantive understood. It may also be read as a nominative plural, referring to Lokah.

Very probably what is said here is that only such kine are worthy of being given away unto Brahmanas, and not lean animals.

Kine produce food not only by assisting at tillage of the soil, but also by aiding in the performance of sacrifices. The ghee burnt in the sacrificial fire sustains the under-deities, who pour rain and cause crops to grow.

That heat is the originating principle of the growth of many things was well understood by the Rishis.

The sense seems to be this: in doing all pious acts, one should first take the aid of a preceptor, even if one be well-conversant with the ordinances one has to follow. Without the selection of a preceptor in the first place, there can be no pious act. In the matter, therefore, of making gifts of kine according to the ordinances laid down, one should seek the help of a preceptor as well as in the matter of every other act of piety.

When consciousness of body is lost in Yoga or Samadhi, a temporary Moksha or Emancipation succeeds. Men with cleansed minds behold at such times those regions of supreme felicity to which the speaker refers. Such felicity, of course, is the felicity of Brahma itself.

Govritti is imitating the cow in the matter of providing for the morrow. Hence, one, who never thinks of the morrow and never stores anything for future use, is meant.

Etachcha in 25 implies gift of a cow, and enam refers to a Brahmana. Dwijaya dattwa, etc, in the first line of 26 seems to be an elaboration of Etachcha.

Homyaheth prasute implies for a child born in consequence of a Homa. The fact is, ascetics sometimes created children without the intervention of women and by efficacy of the Homa alone. At such times should people make gifts of kine unto such sires. The mention of Vala-samvriddhaye afterwards implies the birth of children in the usual course.

Kshirapaih implies calves that are yet unweaned; that is, the cow should be given at such a time when she is still yielding milk; when, in fact, her calf has not learnt to eat or drink anything besides the milk or its dam.

The correct reading of the second line is kshanene vipramuchya as in the Bombay text, and not kshemena vipramuchyeran. The latter reading yields almost no sense. The Burdwan translator, who has committed grave blunders throughout the Anusasana, adheres to the incorrect reading, and makes nonsense of the verse.

In verse 3, vikrayartham is followed, as the Commentator rightly explains, by niyunkta or some such word. Vikrayartham hinsyat may mean 'killing for sale.' This, however should be pleonastic with reference to what follows.

Vratas (rendered as 'vows') and Niyamas (rendered as observances) differs in this respect that the former involves positive acts of worship along with the observance of, or abstention from, particular practices, while the latter involves only such observance or abstention.

The orthodox belief is that all rituals are literally eternal. As eternal, they existed before anybody declared them or set them down in holy writ. The ritual in respect of gifts of kine sprang in this way, i.e., in primeval time. It was only subsequently declared or set down in holy writ.

In verse 5, if instead of the reading swah, swa be adopted, the meaning would be knowing that he would have to die. A Rohini is a red cow. The words Samanga and Vahula are Vedic terms applied to the cow. The Sandh in vahuleti is arsha. The formula or Mantras that should be uttered in actually giving away the kine occur in the scriptures.

The Commentator explains that gavadinam in the first line refers to gopratindhinam. The second line is very terse. The sense is that at only the eight step in the homeward journey of the recipient, all the merits attaching to vicarious gift become his who gives an actual cow: what need, therefore, be said of that merit when the recipient reaches home and draws from the cow the means of worshipping his domestic fire, entertaining his guests, etc?

Ashtami is the eighth day of the lunar fortnight. There must be two Ashtamis in every lunar month. A particular Ashtami is known as the Kamya or the Goshtha. On that day, kine are worshipped with sandalpaste, vermilion, floral wreaths, etc.

Sikhi means a bull, so called from the hump it carries. The construction is sikhi Vrishaiva etc,

A Kapila cow is one that gives a copious measure of milk whenever she is milked, and is possessed of various other accomplishments and virtues.

For without ghee, which is produced from milk, there can be no sacrifice. The sa may refer to Soma, but sacrifice is evidently meant.

The idea of uchcchishta, is peculiarly Hindu and cannot be rendered into any other language. Everything that forms the remnant of meal after one has left of eating, is uchcchishta. The calf sucks its dam. The udders, however, are not washed before milking the dam, for the milk coming out of them is not held to be impure remnant.

Swastayana is a ceremony of propitiation, productive of blessing and destructive of misery of every kind.

The commentator explains that by a wet cowhide is meant a piece of cowhide that has been dipped in water and thus purified. Upavisya is understood after Charmani. The mention of bhumau implies the avoidance of dishes or plates or cups of white brass or other allowable metals. Gavam pushtim, I understand, means 'the prosperity in respect of kine.' i.e., the prosperity which kine confer.

The first line of verse 4 seems to be connected with verse 3. The second line of 4 seems to stand by itself. By connecting the first line of 4 with the second, the meaning will be--All mobile and immobile creatures that will give us away etc. Immobile creatures making gifts of kine would be utter nonsense.

Vallaki is the Indian lute. The Nupura is an ornament for the ankles.

Bhumidah is literally, a giver of land. King Saudasa, the commentator explains, was known by the name of Bhumidah in consequence of his liberality in the matter of giving away land unto the Brahmanas.

These are the several names by which kine are known. The first is probably derived from kine bearing the plough and thus assisting the tillage of the soil. The second implies beauty of form. The third is derived from the cow being regarded as the origin of all things in the universe: all things, therefore, are only so many forms of the cow. Viswarupa implies the same thing. Matara implies mothers, kine being regarded as the mothers of all.

Ghee is regarded so sacred because of its use in sacrifices. It is with the aid of ghee that the deities have become what they are. Itself sacred, it is also cleansing at the same time.

Sri is the goddess of Prosperity. The answer of Bhishma will explain the question fully.

Devendreshu is evidently a misreading for Daitendreshu.

The commentator explains that hence, by making gifts of gold, one comes to be regarded as making gifts of the entire universe.

i.e., into water, for water is identical with Agni.

This refers to the practice of making the sacrificial fire by rubbing two sticks of Sami. It is a very inflammable wood and is used hence in all sacred rites.

Hiranyaretas implies having gold for his vital seed.

Vasumati implies endued with wealth, so called because the seed of Agni, identified with gold, is wealth of the highest kind and fell on the Earth who from that time began to hold it.

Skanda is derived from Skanna or fallen out. Guha implies secret. The secrecy of his birth in the wilderness led to the bestowal of this name. He has many other names.

Jatarupa refers to the incident of its having assumed an excellent form after its birth from Agni.

The commentator explains,--Pravrittipradhanam jangamamabhut.

Sa guna refers to Sattwa. Tejas is identical with Buddhi, because Buddhi, like Light, discovers all things. Sattwa, again, being of the nature of space, or rather being space itself, is of universal form; that is, Sattwa is all-pervading.

Avasatmaka is explained by the commentator as bhranta.

These are different names of Brahman and Mahadeva.

The 'hence' here does not refer to what preceded immediately, but has reference to what has been said of the identity of Agni with Brahman and Rudra.

Pravartakam implies leading to Pravritti for righteous acts or Chittasuddhi.

The commentator explains that the Pitris should be worshipped on the day of the New moon, the deities should then be worshipped on the first day of the lighted fortnight. Or, on any other day of the lighted fortnight, the Pitri-sacrifice or Sraddha should be performed first; the Deva-sacrifice or Ishti should then be performed.

Anwaharyam, the commentator explains, is paschatkartavyam, i.e., subsequently performable (subsequent, i.e., to the worship of the gods). There is a special ordinance, however, which lays down that the Sraddha should be performed on the afternoon of the day of the new moon. The gods should be adored on the first day of the lighted fortnight. Hence, owing to this especial ordinance, the Sraddha must precede the worship of the gods, and not succeed it.

Masha, is the Phascolus Roxburghii.

It is difficult to understand what is meant by Vadhrinasa here. It means either a large bull, or a kind of bird, or a variety of the goat. Probably the bull is intended.

Pitrikshaye is mrita-tithau. Kalasaka is explained by Nilakantha as identical with the common potherb called Shuka or the country sorrel (Rumex visicarius, Linn). Some hold that it is something like the sorrel. Lauham is the petals of the Kanchana flower (Bauhinia acuminata, Linn).