Book 13 edition notes 401–500

To this day the sanctity of Gaya is universally recognised by all Hindus. Sraddhas are performed there under the banian called the Akshaya or inexhaustible banian.

All religious acts are either nitya or kamya. The former imply acts that are obligatory and by doing which no particular merit is acquired but by not doing which sin is incurred. The latter imply those optional acts which, if done, produce merit but which, if omitted, leads to no sin.

Literally, 'set in motion a body of kings,' i.e., become an Overlord.

When Brahmanas are fed, they are made to sit in long lines. They that are stained with vices are excluded from the line. Such exclusion from the line is regarded as equal to complete outlawry.

i.e., who have undergone a natural circumcision.

Implying soothsayers.

This is a common form of expression to imply the fruitlessness of an act. Libations should be poured on the blazing fire. If poured on the ashes, they lead to no merit, for only Agni in his blazing form can bear them to the intended places.

The idea is that heaven is the result of one's deeds. It is attached to the fruits of one's acts. The man falling off from heaven is identical with heaven being dissociated from the fruits of his acts. Hence such a falling off at the man or the dissociation of heaven is likened to a bird's dissociation from its perch when the chain tying it to the perch is broken. The simile seems to be far-fetched.

It is painful to see how very careless the Vernacular versions of the Anusasana have been. From want of space the numerous errors that have been committed have not been pointed out. At times, however, the errors appear to be so grave that one cannot pass them by in silence. In the second half of the first line, whether the reading be avapta as in the Bengal texts or chavapta as in the Bombay texts, the meaning is that the Avapta or one that has not sown na vijabhagam prapnuyat, i.e., would not get a share of the produce. The Burdwan translators make a mess of it, while K. P. Singha skips over it.

The sense is that the calumniator, his sire, and son meet with destruction in consequence of such an act.

These purificatory rites, after the usual period of mourning, consists in shaving and bathing and wearing new clothes.

The act, as explained by the commentator, consisted in the father's doing that with reference to the son which, as the ordinance went, was done by sons with reference to sires.

In one of the vernacular versions, the wrong reading Kshama is adopted for Akshaya.

Ravana and other Rakshasas who spring from Pulastya's line are known as Brahma-Rakshasas or Rakshasas of regenerate origin.

i.e., that fast which mortifies the body is not to be regarded as equivalent to penance. True penance is something else. An observer of such a fast is not to be regarded as an ascetic. Such fasts, again, are sinful instead of being meritorious.

By Upavasa in the second line is meant abstention from food between the two prescribed hours for eating, and not that fast which mortifies the body. One may, again, eat the most luxurious food without being attached to it. One also, by repining at one's abstinence, may come to be regarded as actually enjoying the most luxurious food.

Meat of animals slaughtered in sacrifices is allowable. By taking such meat, one does not become an eater of meat. In fact, one may etc.

Prashthauhi means a cow pregnant with her second calf. Grishti means a cow that has brought forth only her first calf.

The commentator explains that the direction about ascertaining the names of the Rishis and the meanings of those names proceed from the kings' desire of cautioning the Rakshasi lest in going to destroy them she might herself meet with destruction.

In other words, Vasishtha attributes the leanness or emaciation of himself and his companions to the failure to discharge their daily rites of religious practice.

Lotus-stalks are eaten in India and are mentioned by Charaka as heavy food.

Sunahsakha implies a friend of dogs. The newcomer who had joined the roving Rishis had a dog with him. Hence, he is called by the name of Sunahsakha.

Brahma-danda literally means the stick in the hand of a Brahmana. Figuratively, it implies the chastisement inflicted by a Brahmana in the form of a curse. As such it is more effective than the thunderbolt in the hands of Indra himself, for the thunderbolt blasts only those objects that lie within its immediate range. The Brahmana's curse, however, blasts even those that are unborn.

Libations should always be poured upon a blazing fire. Fire made with dry grass or straw blaze up quickly and become soon extinguished. By pouring libations, therefore, upon such fires, one practically pours them upon ashes and gains no merit.

To derive the means of sustenance from a wife was always viewed with feelings of aversion in this country. It seems, therefore, that the custom of domesticating sons-in-law was not unknown in ancient times. To receive acts of hospitality in return for those rendered was regarded as not only meanness but also destructive of merit.

Jnatinam is an instance of the genitive in what is called Anadara. The meaning, therefore, is disregarded them. For a Brahmana woman to bring forth a son devoted to heroic deeds is a reproach.

The scriptures declare that Righteousness loses its strength as Time advances. In the Krita age, it exists in entirety. In the Treta, it loses a quarter. In the Dwapara, another quarter is lost. In the Kali age, full three quarters are lost and only a quarter is all that remains.

The Rishis think that the distinctions between the lower, the middling, and the higher classes of society are eternal, and nothing can be a greater calamity than the effacement of those distinctions. Equality of men, in their eyes, is an unmitigated evil.

Forgiveness is the duty of the Brahmana. To fall off from forgiveness is to fall off from duty. To censure when censured and assail the assailer, are grave transgressions in the case of a Brahmana. The idea of retaliation should never enter the Brahmana's heart; for the Brahmana is the friend of the universe. His behaviour to friend and foe should be equal. To eat the flesh that attaches itself to the back-bone of a slaughtered animal is also a grave transgression.

A religious mendicant should always wander over the Earth, sleeping where night overtakes him. For such a man to reside in a city or town is sinful.

To till the soil is a transgression for a Brahmana.

Good food should never be taken alone. It should always be shared with children and servants.

A village having only one well should be abandoned by a Brahmana, for he should not draw water from such a well which is used by all classes of the population.

The penance that is involved in standing on one foot should be practised, like all other penances, in the woods. To practise a penance on the way leading to a village so that people may be induced to make gifts, is a transgression of a grave kind.

Some kine that are vicious have their hind legs tied with a rope while they are milked. If the rope be made of human hair, the pain felt is supposed to be very great. To obtain the aid of a calf belonging to another cow is regarded as sinful. To the cow also, the process of sucking cannot be agreeable. If the milk is held in a vessel of white brass, it becomes unfit for gods and guests.

The discourse is called eternal and immutable because of its subject being so. Duties are eternal truths.

This discourse on duties delivered by the Rishis is called a Sastra. Literally, anything that governs men, i.e., regulates their behaviour, is called a Sastra. As such, the enumeration of duties occurring in this Lesson, although it has been made by a reference to their breaches, is therefore, a Sastra.

Literally, they who cook for dogs, i.e., keep dogs as companions; meaning members of the lowest caste.

The commentator takes Tapah or Penance as indicative of the duties of the four orders of life, and Dharma as indicative of compassion and other virtues.

Dhupas are incenses offered to the deities. Being of inflammable substances, they are so made that they may burn slowly or smoulder silently. They are the inseparable accompaniments of a worship of the deities.

Tejas is explained by the commentator, as used here for Kanti or beauty, and prakasam for kirti; there is no necessity, however, for rejecting the ordinary meaning of Tejas which is energy.

The sense seems to be that if a man dies during that period when the sun is in his southward course, he is dragged through a thick darkness. For escaping that darkness, one should give lights at the period mentioned.

What is meant by the juice of deciduous herbs is oil of mustard seeds and castor seeds, etc.

Well-fried paddy, reduced to powder, is sometimes used for giving a coating to dishes of meat.

It will be remembered that the only chastisement that was in vogue in the Krita age was the crying of 'Fie' on an offender.

The Bombay text has vatsakah for utsavah. If the former reading be adopted, it would mean those rites that are performed for the prosperity and longevity of children. Of course, in such rites also the deities are worshipped and propitiated.

For Dwijaya some text read Grahaya meaning guests.

'Jwalante' has 'dwipah' for its nominative understood. A twinkle occupies an instant of time. What is said here is that the giver of lights becomes endued with beauty and strength for as many years as the number of instants for which the lights given by him are seen to burn.

'Kshatrabandhu' implies a low or vile Kshatriya.

Literally, 'Why dost thou dip such parts of thy body into a pond of water?'

The study of the Vedas is regarded as equivalent in merit of gifts. Hence actual gifts of articles are spoken of as 'gifts of other kinds.'

Literally 'friendship is seven-word.' Sometimes the same expression is understood as meaning 'seven-paced,' The sense, of course, is that if the righteous meet and exchange seven words (or, walk with each other for only seven steps), they become friends.

The Bombay text has Somapithi and upavati instead of upayanti. The Bengal text reads Somavithi which seems to be inaccurate. The sense seems to be that of Somapithi or drinker of (sacrificial) soma.

The Ekaratra, Pancharatra, and Ekadasaratra, sacrifices consist of fasts and gifts for the periods indicated by the names, viz., one night, five nights, and eleven nights.

'Golden moons' imply those well-carved and beautifully fringed discs of gold that are worn by Hindu ladies on the forehead and that hang by thin chains of gold attached to the hair. In Bengal, ladies of respectable houses wear a kind of ornament called 'Chandrahara' or the moon-wreath. This ornament is worn round the waist, on the hip. Several chains of gold, from half a dozen to a dozen, having a large disc of well-carved gold to which they are attached, constitute this really very beautiful ornament. The disc is divided into two halves, attached to each other by hinges, so that in sitting down, the ornament produces no inconvenience.

In the Santi Parva it has been explained that in ancient times kings sometimes performed sacrifices causing altars to be raised at small distances from one another. These distances were measured by hurling a heavy piece of wood called Sami, so that throwing the Sami from one altar, the next altar would be created upon the spot where it fell.

i.e. if a sinful man mends his conduct, he succeeds in warding off the misery and evils to which he would otherwise be subject in consequence of his sins.

What is said here is this: certain persons have the ugly habit of picking up little clods of earth and pound them into dust, while sitting on the ground and engaged in talking. The habit also of tearing the grass while sitting on the ground may be marked. It should be remembered that the people of India in ancient times used often to sit on the bare ground. As to cutting off the nails with the teeth, it is an ugly habit with many young men.

The Brahma Muhurta is that when the sun is just below the horizon.

The prayers said in the morning and the evening are also spoken of as adoring the two twilights.

'One should always observe the vow of Brahmacharya' means that one should abstain from sexual congress except with one's wedded wives and in the proper season.

The Bombay text reads the second line differently. What is meant, is that the wounds inflicted by wordy shafts rankle and fester and lead to death.

Samyava is a thin cake of unleavened bread, fried with ghee, pounded and again made up into an oblong form with fresh bread, sugar and spices, and again fried with ghee. Krisara is a kind of liquid food made of milk, sesame, rice, sugar, and spices. Sashkuli is a kind of pie. Payasa is rice boiled in sugar and milk.

Antarddhane implies 'in darkness'; hence one should always examine the bed with a light before one lies down on it.

Pranan, the commentator explains, implies the upper holes of the body, such as the nostrils, the ear-holes and the eyes.

The Brahmana is more powerful than the other two, for while the other two cannot injure except when they have their foe within sight, the Brahmana can do so even by not seeing his enemy.

The custom in India, with especially all orthodox Brahmanas, is to wear a single flower on the head, inserted into the coronal lock. This flower may be a red one, it is said, after the prohibition in the previous verse about the wearing of garlands made of red flowers.

What is stated here is that dry perfumes should not be used, but those which are pounded with water and made into a paste.

The cloth worn by a Hindu has two lateral fringes which contain a lesser number of threads than the body of the cloth.

It has been said that Hinduism is a vast system of personal hygiene. These directions about change of attire are scrupulously observed by every rigid Hindu to this day. No change seems to have taken place in the daily habits of the people.

Priyangu is the Aglaia Roxburghiana. Vilwa is the Egle marmelos. Tagara is the Taberuaemontana coronaria, Linn. Kesara is probably the Eclipta alba, Hassk.

Na is the nom. sing. of Nri, implying man.

One of the Vernacular translations takes valena as signifying child and para-sraddha as meaning the first or adya sraddha.

This noise refers to that of chewing or sucking or licking, etc. It is an ugly habit with some people.

Doubting, for example, as to whether he would be able to digest it or not, or whether what he is taking is clean or not, or whether it would be too much for him.

In offering certain articles at the Sraddha, the articles are first placed on this part of the right hand and then offered with due Mantras to the Pitris.

The achamana is not exactly washing, when one is directed to perform the achamana after having eaten, there it, of course, implies an act of washing. At the commencement, however, of religious acts, the rite of achamana consists in merely touching the lips and some other parts with water.

The Brahmana's aid is necessary in selecting the ground, and settling the longitudinal and other directions of the house, as also in fixing the day of commencing the work of building.

I adopt the meaning which Nilakantha points out. According to him, this verse forbids the killing of birds at night time and their killing after having fed and adopted them. Indeed, one may buy such birds killed by others for food. The word Dwija, however, may mean both hair and nails. The first part of the line, therefore, may be taken as a prohibition against the cutting of hair and nails after eating. The words na samarcha reta, in that case, would be difficult to interpret. Probably, it is this that has led the commentator to take Dwija here for a bird. Some texts read panam for na cha.

Pravaras indicate the race in which one is born. They are named from the names of the Vedic Rishis.

The commentator explains that ayonim implies of unknown birth and viyonim of mean birth.

Brahmanih here refers to the rituals in the Vedas and not persons of the first order.

The fact is, one is directed to bathe after a shave. One is considered impure after a shave until one bathes.

Uddesa means, as the commentator explains, in brief.

The word rendered conduct in the concluding verse of this lesson is acharah. It implies not only one's behaviour to one's own self and others, i.e., to beings inferior, equal, and superior. The word acharah, therefore, includes the entire body of acts that one does in this life, including the very sentiments that one cherishes.

The flower of the cane cannot be plucked for being offered to the deities.

An Acharya is an ordinary instructor. He is called an Upadhyaya who teaches the Vedas. The Upadhyaya is greater than even ten Acharyas or ordinary teachers. The father, again, deserves ten times as much respect as is paid to the Upadhyaya. As regards the mother, again, the reverence due to her is greater than what is due to the father. The mother is equal to the whole earth.

Many of the verses of this Lesson are from Manu. The relative positions of the Acharya, the Upadhyaya, the father, and the mother, as given in verse 15, is not consistent with Manu. Verse 15 would show that the Upadhyaya was regarded as very much superior of the Acharya. In Manu, II--140-41, he is called an Acharya who taught all the Vedas, without any remuneration. He, on the other hand, who taught a particular Veda for a living, was called an Upadhyaya. The first line of verse 19 corresponds with Manu, II--148. The sense is that that birth which one derives from one's parents is subject to death; while the birth derived from the preceptor is true regeneration, unfading and immortal. It is a question whether any other nation paid such respect to persons employed in teaching.

Kanchi is an ornament worn by ladies round the waist or hips. There is a shining disc of gold or silver, which dangles on the hip. It is commonly called Chandra-hara. The Nupura is an anklet of silver, with moving bullets placed within, so that when the wearer moves, these make an agreeable sound.

In verse 3, Avaguna means Nirguna; Ekatma means alone and asamhta implies without associates i.e., helpless.

A Padma is a very large number. Instead of rendering such words exactly, I have, in some of the preceding verses, following the sense, put down 'millions upon millions of years.'

Avartanani means years. Four and twelve make sixteen, Sara is arrow. The arrows are five in number as possessed by Kama, the deity of love. The number of fires also is seven. The compound saragniparimana, therefore, implies five and thirty. Adding this to sixteen, the total comes up to one and fifty.

A countless number almost.

Here the exact number of years is not stated.

Some of the most beautiful ladies in Indian mythology and history have been of dark complexion. Draupadi, the queen of the Pandavas, was dark in colour and was called Krishna. As to women called Syamas, the description given is that their bodies are warm in winter and cold in summer, and their complexion is like that of heated gold.

A very large figure is given.

This sacrifice consisted of the slaughter of a human being.

The exact number of years is given, consisting of a fabulous figure.

Abhravakasasila is explained by Nilakantha as having the attribute of the Avakasa or place of Abhra or the clouds. Hence, as stainless as the ether, which, of course, is the purest of all the elements.

Sacrifices have for their soul either the actual rites laid down in the scriptures or fasts of several kinds. The observance of fasts is equal to the performance of sacrifices, for the merits of both are equal.