1323. All Brahmanas have to pluck flowers in the morning for offering them to the deities they worship. The task takes many minutes, because a good many have to be plucked for the purpose. This being a daily occupation and they going as they do to places where flowers abound, the act of plucking goes on while the plucker is mentally engaged with other things.
1324. The Bengal reading sputam vyaghro mrigamiva, etc. is preferable to the Bombay reading sputam vyaghram mahaughova. If the Bombay reading be accepted, the meaning would be 'Him Death snatches away as a mighty wave sweeps away a sleeping tiger.' The idea of a sleeping tiger being swept away by a surging wave is very unfamiliar.
1325. Devas here evidently refer to the senses. The senses are, as it were, cattle. Their true fold is the forest and not peopled cities and towns. In the forest there are no temptations to try them as in the midst of cities and towns.
1326. Jivitarthapanayenaih is connected with hinsati. To take it (as the Burdwan translator does) as an adjective qualifying 'pranibhih' would be incorrect.
1327. The Sacrifice of Peace is opposed to the Sacrifice of Slaughter. The Sacrifice of Brahma is Yoga which leads to a knowledge of the Soul. The Sacrifice of Speech is Vedic recitation or Japa. The Sacrifice of Mind is contemplation, and that of Acts is baths, performance of other acts of purity, waiting dutifully upon the preceptor, etc.
1328. To perform the Sacrifice of Self is to merge the Soul in the Supreme Soul.
1329. The Bombay reading danda-vidhanam is a blunder for the Bengal reading danda nidhanam. To interpret vidhanam as equivalent to abandonment or giving up, by taking the prefix vi, in the sense of vigata would be an act of violence to the word.
1330. The guha or cave referred to is the body.
1331. By Prakriti, as explained in previous Sections, is meant primal nature consisting of the five great essences of earth, water, etc.
1332. Samupodeshu is explained as upasthiteshu api, i.e., even when such objects are present and ready for enjoyment.
1333. Maitrayangatah, as explained by the commentator, is Suryavat-pratyaha-vibhinna-margah, i.e., roving like the Sun every day in a different path. The object of the speaker is to lay it down that one solicitous of Emancipation should never confine oneself to one spot, but rove or wander over the world without owning a fixed habitation or home. K.P. Singha translates the word wrongly.
1334. In the first line, the Bengal reading madhya na chacharet is better than madhya cha nacharet. Pradakshinam is ankulam, and savyam is pratikulam. The grammar of the second line is not difficult. Besides, the commentator explains it clearly. The Burdwan translator, leaving out the words bhaikshacharyam and taking anapannah as equivalent to vipadapannah, gives a thoroughly ridiculous version. K.P. Singha, also, is not correct. The commentator explains that charyam means anekagrihatanam; anapannam is akurvan. The second foot is unconnected with the first.
1335. Muni, here, is one who has restrained his senses, or who has betaken himself to the path of Renunciation. Patrasamchara, I think, is the act of setting the dishes for those who are to dine off them. The commentator explains that it means 'the motion of those who are to distribute the food.' Of course, their motions from the kitchen to the dining hall and back are implied if the word is taken for 'setting of dishes.' The sense remains unaltered. The Muni must be abstemious and hence he should select an hour like this for begging his dole, when there would be very little in the house to give.
1336. Matra is a technical word signifying the taking of food to the extent of only gratification of hunger, or, as explained by Chakrapani Datta in his commentary on Charaka, triptimatram. When matra is to be disregarded, clothes, etc., need not be mentioned. Vihanyeta is equivalent to hinsito na syat.
1337. The second line is passed over by K.P. Singha. What is meant by it is that when such a man is respectfully presented with anything, he should hold it in reprobation. Vide the Sanatsujatiya Sections in Udyoga Parva, particularly the verses beginning with Yatra akathayamanasya, etc.
1338. The second line is skipped over by K.P. Singha. The Burdwan translator gives a wrong version. The commentator explains that anyam refers to paisachim, and anyatra to atmani. In the Sanatsujatiya Sections also, a Brahmana's practices are directed to be concealed. 'To enter his own Self' is to turn self on Self, i.e., to withdraw oneself from everything for understanding and contemplating the Soul.
1339. By totally abstaining from acts he should avoid both merit and demerit.
1340. This is a triplet. The Burdwan translator misses the meaning of the first half of the first line. The commentator explains that abhayastam is continuous; bhautikam is tattwajatam, atmanodehendriyadi. Hence, bhutanam means anyesham bhutanam.
1341. To think beforehand of the food one is to take is to convert oneself into gourmand. The Sannyasin, without thinking of the food he would take, and without mentally indulging in a foretaste thereof should take what he gets without exertion.
1342. Sanjnakam from the root jna meaning marana or killing.
1343. The two negatives in the first line are equivalent to an affirmative. Prasangatah is explained by the commentator in a slightly different way. Affluence, in consequence of the attachment it generates, stands in the way of Emancipation. Hence, i.e., in consequence of this consideration, the king's opinion regarding affluence, is correct. With respect to the certainty of attaining to Emancipation, compare Gita, Vahunam janmanamante jnanavan mam prapadyate, etc.
1344. The object of this verse, as explained by the commentator, is to exhort Yudhishthira to strive after Emancipation without being at all moved by his happiness or misery which (as stated here) come to Jiva as accidents.
1345. The wind has space for its progenitor. Jiva has the stainless and immutable Chit for his progenitor. Like the wind, which is hueless, catching hues from surrounding objects and making its own hueless progenitor look as if it has hues, Jiva also, though in reality stainless, catches stains from Ignorance and Acts and makes his own progenitor, the stainless and immutable Chit, display stains of every kind. This is how the commentator puts the simile, supplying the points that have been omitted in the text.
1346. These aphorisms are very abstruse. What is meant by saying that the attainment of Brahma does not depend upon Acts is this: Acts are terminable. Their consequences also are terminable. Acts, therefore, can never be the means by which Brahma can be attained, for Brahma is interminable and eternal, not like the felicity of heaven which is changeful. The only means by which Jiva may revert to Brahma is by dispelling Ignorance through Knowledge; or, as the Upanishads declare, one attains to it as one gets one's forgotten necklace of gold, which all the while is on the neck though sought for with assiduity everywhere. K.P. Singha misunderstands it completely. What is meant by the direction about reverencing persons who have attained to Brahma is this: the existence of Brahma and the possibility of Jiva's reverting to that Immutable status are matters that depend upon the conception of such men. Brahma, again, is so difficult to keep, that the great sages never desist for a moment from the culture that is necessary for its retention.
1347. Intermediate i.e., as animals and birds and reptiles and worms, etc.
1348. i.e., if righteous, one attains to happiness; if otherwise, to the reverse.
1349. Verse 21 and the first line of 22 are grammatically connected.
1350. Me in the second line is equivalent to Maya. Tatah is tatra yuddhakale. Hari had come to aid Indra, and hence Vritra had beheld him. He is called Hari because he takes away one's sins. Besides the well-known derivation of the word Narayana, the commentator here offers another, viz., the ayanam or layasthanam of Nara or Jivasangha.
1351. Vaikuntha has various etymologies. The commentator inclines to explain it as 'one who brings together all creatures.' Purusha is full; as applied to Narayana, it, of course, means one who has no defect but who is the sole representative of fullness. Sukla or Suddha or pure. Vishnu is all-pervading. Sanatan is kutastha or uniform or immutable. Munjakesa, is possessed of yellow hair, or hair of the hue of Munja grass. Harismasru is having a tawny beard.
1352. Penances are meritorious. The very sight of Hari that I obtain was as efficacious as a course of the austerest penances. Of course, in consequence of that and my other penances great have been the rewards that I have enjoyed. It seems, however, that the full measure of rewards has not been reaped; the remnant is to be enjoyed by me now, for I am about to ask thee about the fruits of acts. Sacred and highly auspicious is my enquiry. To make it is, in itself, a reward.
1353. Vaya acts are, of course, sacrifices and other religious acts; by abhyantara acts are meant santi, danti, uparati, titiksha, and samadhi, i.e., the usual course of mental training necessary for Yoga. What the speaker intends to lay down in this verse is that sacrifices are not entirely useless. These may lead to chitta-suddhi or the cleansing of the heart, which, when attained, leads to knowledge of Him or the Soul or to Emancipation or Infinity.
1354. The comparison lies in the fact of the desirability of the two acts. No one likes the stains the body may catch to remain unwashed or unwiped off. Similarly, no one should neglect to wash off the faults that the heart may catch. There is no comparison between the two acts with regard to the degree of effort necessary to accomplish each.
1355. 'Efforts born of practice' refer to both external and internal Sadhana.
1356. Karmaviseshan is explained by the commentator as equivalent to ragaviraga-hetun.
1357. Sampravartante and tishthanti are thus explained by the commentator.
1358. In the previous verses the speaker describes the training that one should undergo. In this and the following ones, he speaks of the object to be known. Sreeman is explained as asriyate iti srih, i.e., upadhih, tadvan. Hari is Sambharata. Narayana is saravasrayah. Prabhu is sarvaniyanta. Deva is dyotate-iti i.e., Chinmatrah. These etymologies must be grasped for understanding this verse.
1359. The 'mutable' in all creatures is the combination of the five primal essences. The 'immutable' in them is Jiva, or Chit as invested with ignorance. The eleven modifications that constitute. His essence are the eleven senses of knowledge and action with the mind. Equipped with these eleven. He drinketh the universe, i.e., enjoys it. The rays are these senses themselves. Equipped with the senses. He enjoys the universe with the senses.
1360. 'His mind is _in_ the Moon.' i.e., His mind is the Moon. The expression 'waters in the Ganges,' implies a distinction that does not exist between container and contained, for 'Ganges,' means the water so named.
1361. The sandhi between sa and acramanam is arsha.
1362. Dharma has various meanings all of which, however, are closely created with one another. As duty, or the assemblage of all acts which we should do, it is both Righteousness and Religion.
1363. The Sacrificial grahas or patras (vessels) are called after the names of the deities Indra, Vayu, Soma, etc. The sixteen Ritwijes are Brahman, Hotri, Adhyaryu, Udgatri, etc.
1364. Verse 21 to 23 show the unity of the Divine Being. The variety perceived is only apparent, not real.
1365. Verse 31 and 32 are not difficult; yet the Burdwan translator makes nonsense of the same.
1366. This is elaborated in the Vishnu Purana, Part I, Sec. V. There are three primary creations, viz., Mahat, the five primal essences in their subtile forms and the senses. From the Six colours again six other creations have sprung. To the Dark colour is due all immobile creatures; to the Tawny all the intermediate order of creatures (viz., the lower animals and birds, etc.); to the Blue are due human beings, to the Red the Prajapatyas; to the Yellow the deities; and to the White are due the Kumara, i.e., Sanatkumara and others.
1367. Emancipation is so difficult.
1368. The construction of the first line is this: subham darsanam (auspicious scriptures) gatwa (prapya) Devah yam gatim (identical with) darsanam (atmanubhavatmikam) aha, Gati is naturally dependent on Varna, and Varna upon 'Time or acts.'
1369. There are ten senses of knowledge and action. To this must be added Manas, Buddhi, Ahankara and Chitta, which are sometimes called the four Karanas. In consequence of these fourteen, fourteen different kinds or merit and demerit may be achieved by Jiva who is their possessor. These fourteen kinds of merit and demerit also, are subdivided into hundreds of thousands each. Jiva, in course of his wanderings through the universe, ascends in the scale of Being, stays in particular rungs, and falls down from them into lower rungs, accordingly, What the speaker wishes to inculcate is that these fourteen should always be towards the attribute of Sattwa or Goodness.
1370. This life, it should be noted, leadeth to Jiva's transformation as an immobile object. A creature of Dark hue becomes addicted to wicked acts and rots in hell His existence as an immobile object is hell itself.
1371. Prajavisargah is the period for which one Creation lasts, being equal to what is called a Kalpa.
1372. The Dark and the Tawny hues of their corresponding states of existence, viz., the immobile and the intermediate, are regarded as states of endurance. Hence, when the misery that is their portion has been fully endured, the recollection is suddenly irradiated into the mind, of the righteousness that distinguished Jiva in ages far remote. Anisa is helpless or cheerless.
1373. Cha at the end of the second line is equivalent to va. Unless cha be taken as equivalent to va the verse would yield no meaning. After Tawny comes Blue, i.e., after attainment of existence as an Intermediate creature Jiva attains to humanity. This occurs when Sattwa does not predominate. Hence anyatha should be supplied after upaiti.
1374. Vyatite is a finite verb in indicative mood, as pointed out by the commentator. It comes from root i with suffix vi. After sate supply jate sati. The Burdwan translator takes it as a participial adjective in the locative singular, which is, of course, wrong. The version he gives of this line is most ridiculous, containing as it does a self-contradictory assertion. K. P. Singha gives the right meaning.
1375. When Jiva becomes a Deva, he has still the ten senses, the five Pranas, and the four internal possessions of mind, understanding, Chitta, and Ahankara, amounting in all to nineteen. These nineteen impel him to thousands of acts. Hence, even when transformed into Deva, Jiva is _not_ freed from acts, but is in niraya or hell,--acts being, under all circumstances, equivalent to hell.
1376. Vyuha implies the varied forms of one and the same thing Daivani in Sattwa-pradhanani. The five senses, with the mind, the understanding form a total of seven. The acts achieved through each of these may be subdivided a hundredfold. As these seven possessions adhere to Jiva till he becomes emancipated, he acts through these seven in a variety of ways, Relying, therefore, upon these seven hundred kinds of acts (which are but varied forms of one and the same thing, viz., Action), Jiva successively becomes Red and Yellow and White. Arrived at White, he courses through certain highly effulgent regions which are superior to the region of Brahman himself, and which leave behind or beneath them the Eight Puris (by which, perhaps, is meant the puri of Indra, that of Varuna, etc., or, Kasi, Mathura, Maya, etc., or symbolical stages of progress, which are fraught with great felicity). Those highly effulgent and adorable regions are obtainable by Knowledge alone or the fruit of Yoga.
1377. This is an exceedingly abstruse verse. The Burdwan version, in which unconnected bits of the commentary have been jumbled together, is utter nonsense. K.P. Singha skips over nearly the whole verse. The Eight puris referred to in the previous verse are here stated to be identical with the Sixty well-known incidents of even Sukla or White existence. This tale of Sixty is arrived at in this way: 1st, the state of wakefulness; 2nd, the gross body made up of the five primal essences; 3rd, the five attributes of sound, scent, form, taste, and touch; these come up to seven. Then come the ten senses of action and knowledge; the five breaths; mind, understanding, consciousness, and chitta: these form 19. Then come Avidya, Kama, and Karma. With Soul or the Beholder, the sum comes up to 30. The number becomes doubled when the state of Dream is taken into consideration, for like Wakefulness existing with the 29, Dream also exists with the 29. With those that are effulgent, i.e., with Beings that are Sukla or White, these 60 are simply mano-viruddhani or manomatrani eva. Unlike other Beings in lower spheres of existence, they that are effulgent or Sukla do not regard the states of Wakefulness and Dream as different but as the same. Hence, the para gati of such Beings is a state of existence that transcends both Wakefulness and Dream, and transcends Dreamless slumber also (for in Dreamless slumber the 30 exist suspended, to be revived with the return of wakefulness), and is identical with the fourth state called Turiya.
1378. What the speaker wishes to lay down here is that even he that is Jivanmukta or has achieved his Emancipation though living like other, is incapable of transcending the effects of his past acts. Every kind of existence or life (save that which is identical with Brahma) is anistha or inauspiciousness. That Yogin who is Jivan-mukta but who is not able to cast off the felicities of Yoga-puissance, resides in one and the same body for a full century of Kalpas, in a superior form of life, and after the expiry, of that century of Kalpas, he passes through four other regions named Mahar, Jana, Tapas, and Satya. Now, _this_ is the end of such a Yogin, who, of course, belongs to the sixth colour which is White, and who is freed from attachments and who is unsuccessful though successful, i.e., who has achieved Yoga-success but who has not still been able to achieve that success which consists in beholding Brahma or Brahma-sakshatkara. By anisah in this verse is meant that Yogin who is incapable of casting off the felicities brought about by Yoga-puissance. K.P. Singha gives the substance of the verse not very accurately. The Burdwan translator, in the version he gives, introduces three nominatives in the three sentences into which he splits it, viz., Jiva, the Yogin who is unable to cast off the felicities brought about by Yoga-puissance, and the Yogin who has achieved Brahma-sakshatkara, without understanding that all three refer to one and the same person.
1379. Anisah here means one who, after having attained to eminence by Yoga, falls off from Yoga. Tatra means heaven or the superior regions that are his in consequence of Yoga-eminence. For a century of Kalpas such a person has to dwell in heaven, with the unexhausted remnant of his senses, i.e., the senses of knowledge with mind and understanding, being always predisposed towards the attribute of Sattwa. Upon the expiry of that century of Kalpas, such a person, without ascending, descends to the world of men, but then here eminence of station becomes his.
1380. Saptakritwah is seven times. Paraiti is 'courseth through.' Lokah refers to the seven regions called respectively, Bhur, Bhuvar, Sivah, Mahar, Jana, Tapas, and Satya (or Brahmaloka). What is intended to be said here is this: If the Yogin, having attained to only the first stage of Yoga, dies, he ascends to heaven. Thence falling down on Earth, he becomes an Emperor and thus conquers the Earth or Bhu. In this way, as the Yogin gradually ascends in the path of Yoga, he ascends higher and higher. In this verse Sambarevikshepa has been used to signify Samadhi and awakening from Samadhi, for in the first the universe is destroyed, and in the second it is re-created. At the end, he reaches the region of Satya or Brahma. Thence even he has to return if he has not been able to achieve Brahma-sakshatkara.
1381. The seven that the Yogin desirous of Emancipation casts off are either the seven regions already referred to viz., Bhu, Bhuva, Swah, Maha, Jana, Tapa, and Satya, or the five senses of knowledge with mind and understanding. Samharam is equivalent to Samhritya, having been formed by the suffix namul. Upaplavoni are sources of grief or misfortune. The first Devasya refers to Mahadeva. The Saivas call that region Kailasa. The Vaishnavas call it Vaikuntha. The Hiranya-garbhas call it Brahman's or Brahmaloka. Sesha is Ananta, a particular form of Narayana. They who call it the region of Nara are, of course, the Sankhyas, for these regard Emancipation as the goal of Jiva or every creature. The Devasya vishnoh (in the third line) is Dyotamanasya Brahmanah i.e., Chinmatrasya, or of the pure Chit when uninvested with ignorance or Avidya. The Aupanishadas regard it as the region of Para-Brahma. The commentator clearly points out what the seven regions are. K.P. Singha, misunderstanding the verse, mentions only five; the Burdwan translator six.
1382. This verse is not at all difficult; yet the Burdwan translator makes utter nonsense of it. K.P. Singha gives the substance of the first line, but skips over the second. Without giving a literal version of the first line, I expand it, following the lead of the commentator.
1383. Sa here indicates the person conversant with Brahma. The construction is Sa yavat saseshabhuk asti tavat prajah tathaiva te sukle dyvyau cha tadangeshu (vartante). Etat in the second line is this paridrisyamanam viyadadi. What the speaker wishes to inculcate in this verse is that unto one conversant with Brahma, the whole universe up to complete identity with Brahma is as contiguous as a plum in the palm of the hand. When the Chitta is cleansed by Yoga as practised by Dhyana, Dharana, and Samadhis, then the perceptible universe appears to him as identical with his own senses. The two white sciences referred to are Paravidya and Aparavidya, i.e., all knowledge including that of Brahma.
1384. Suddhena manasa,--with cleansed mind, i.e., with the aid of Sarvana (hearing), Manana (attention), Dhyana (contemplation), and Abhyasa (repeated meditation). Two stages are indicated in this verse. The first is the attention of the suddham and paramam gatim or the stainless and high end. This is equivalent to Brahma-sakshatkara. After this comes the second stage, which is the avayam sthanam or the spot which knows no deterioration, i.e., Emancipation. This is identical with the attainment of Eternal Brahma which is dushprapyam or difficult of attainment.
1385. The commentator says that the object of this verse is to inculcate the Impersonality of God. God is at the Root of all things, i.e., (as the commentator supposes according to the teaching of the Vedanta philosophy). He exists in His own unmodified nature, even as pure Chit. Both Vidya (Knowledge) and Avidya (Ignorance or illusion) exist in Him. In consequence of the latter he is Bhagavan, i.e., endued with the six grand attributes of puissance, etc.
1386. In the form of all things,--causes and effects--which constitute them.
1387. A Pyakta-parsant is explained by the commentator in this way. Vritra was a firm devotee of Vishnu. He did not, therefore, deserve defeat and fall. How, then, was he vanquished by Indra? Avyaktam is equivalent to aspashtam.
1388. The word used in verse 4 is vinihatah and that in verse 5 is nirjitah. There can be no doubt that both imply the same idea.
1389. Astha is efforts.
1390. Rathantara is another name for certain Samans, which are so called because of men being able to cross the world with their aid as by a car. (Ratha car, and tri to cross).
1391. 'Praising thee, for thy victory, etc.,' i.e.. the Rishis are uttering hymns of praise for conferring victory on thee.
1392. Raudrah may mean also 'appertaining to Rudra, which is another name of Mahadeva.'
1393. This account of the encounter between Vritra and Indra is substantially different from what occurs in the Vana Parva. Then again the part the Rishis are made to take in the slaughter of the Asura is certainly censurable. The great Rishis, even for benefiting the three worlds, would not certainly injure any creature. In the above account, Vasishtha and Vrihaspati and the others are very much represented as persons who have bet largely on Indra's success. In the account occurring in the Vana Parva, Indra is represented as standing in awful dread of Vritra and hurling his thunderbolt without even deliberate aim, and refusing to believe that his foe was dead till assured by all the deities. The present account seems to be a much older than that in the Vana Parva.
1394. Amanusham is literally inhuman. The use of such words are due to temporary forgetfulness in such connections. Like Homer, Vyasa also nods.
1395. Vadhya is the slaughter in her embodied form.
1396. Dwijapravarvadhya means the slaughter of a superior person of the regenerate order. Indeed, Vritra was a lineal descendant of the great sage Kasyapa, the common progenitor of the Devas and Asuras. Then, again, Vritra was certainly a very superior person.
1397. The rules or ordinance referred to it is about the killer of a Brahmana being liable to be overtaken by the sin of Brahmanicide.
1398. Anadhrishyam is, literally, unvanquishable.
1399. Uma or Parvati, the daughter of Himavat, the spouse of Siva.
1400. The self-created Brahman at first created, by fiats of his holy will, certain beings who were charged to procreate for filling the universe with living creatures. These are the Prajapatis or lords of all creatures. Amongst them was Daksha. Other accounts represent Daksha as the grandson of Brahman.
1401. There are three vocatives in this verse, expressive, of course, of great surprise. I omit them in the translation.
1402. A kind of substance like lac that oozes out of the stones of certain mountains during the hot months. It is also called Silajit, is taken internally by many men in the belief that it increases digestion and strength.
1403. The Indian cuckoo, noted for his clear musical kuhus. This is the favourite bird of Indian poets.
1404. i.e., Thou, however, art not so; therefore, it is a matter of surprise that thou shouldst not yet know me. The sense is not at all difficult, but K.P. Singha skips over it.
1405. Both the vernacular translators have erred in rendering this line. What Mahadeva says to Uma is, how is it that you have thus been stupefied? It is thou that stupefiest others! To see thee stupefied has created surprise in me.
1406. Mahadeva is called Virupaksha in consequence of his three eyes, the third eye making his features dreadful to behold. He is also called Tryaksha for his possession of three eyes.
1407. Every worshipper of Mahadeva must fill his mouth with air and then, shutting his lips, strike his cheeks, letting the air gently out at each stroke, and helping it with air from the lungs for keeping the current steady. By doing this a kind of noise is made like Bom, Bom, Babam, Bom. Mahadeva is himself fond of this music and is represented as often making ???.
1408. Vrisha is explained by the commentator as vrishti-kartri; Vrishya as Dharmavriddhikartri; Go-vrisha as Nandirupa; Katankata as Nityagamanasila; Danda as Niyantri.
1409. Godhead is frequently likened to anahatasavda or sound not perceptible by the ear, or sound in its nascent state.
1410. Huns are mystic sounds that stand as emblems for various things. 'Beyond three Huns' means, perhaps, 'beyond the influence of wrath.'
1411. In Sacrifice the butter is poured with mantras into the mouth of a selected Brahmana who represents the gods, and into also the sacred fire. What is said here is that the great god is of the form of that Brahmana and of the sacred fire.
1412. This alludes to the sports of Krishna in the groves of Vrinda with the rustic children who were his companions.
1413. The sacred stream of the Ganges, issuing out of Vishnu's feet, is held by Brahman in his Kamandalu or jar. Thence it issues out, and coursing through the heavens fall down on the head of Siva, for Siva alone is mighty enough to bear that fall. The matted locks of Siva bear the mark of the fall. This six well-known acts here referred to are Yajana, Yajana, Adhyayana, Adhyapana, Dana, and Pratigraha (i.e., performing sacrifices, assisting at the sacrifices of others, studying, teaching, making gifts, and accepting gifts). The three acts in which Siva is engaged are Yajana, Adhyayana, and Dana (i.e., the first, the third, and the fifth in the above enumeration).
1414. The commentator explains that by Sankhya the speaker means 'the propounder of the sceptical philosophy.' By Sankhya-mukhya which I render, 'the foremost of Sankhyas' is meant 'follower of the theistic philosophy of Patanjala.' By Sankhya-yoga is meant both Vedanta and Yoga.
1415. 'That hast a car and that hast no car' means, as the commentator explains, 'capable of coursing, without obstruction, through Water, Fire, Wind, and Space.'
1416. Isana is 'much desired' or 'much coveted by all persons.'
1417. i.e., thou createst and destroyest these repeatedly or settest them in motion.
1418. These are syllables which all singers of the Samans utter for lengthening short words in order to keep up the metre.
1419. i.e., He who is adored in these hymns is thyself and no other.
1420. These are the ten colours known to the Rishis.
1421. Lohitantargata-drishtih is explained by the commentator as Lohita antargata cha drishtirasya. By 'red eyes' is, of course, meant eyes of the colour of the lotus. By 'eyes turned inwards' is meant one whose gaze is upon his soul, i.e., one who is engaged in Samadhi.
1422. Chalachalah is explained as exceedingly chalah or swift. Achalah is nasti chalo yasmat; hence chaleshu (api) achalah is swift amongst the swift, or swifter than the swiftest.
1423. The great god is a fish wandering in the waters, i.e., as Jiva wanders in space; he is a fish in the net, i.e., as Jiva, invested with Darkness or Illusion, is obliged to take birth.
1424. Meghakala is the time when clouds appear, i.e., the time of the universal deluge. Samvartaka and Valahaka are the two clouds that appear on the occasion of the universal destruction.
1425. Mili-Mili is explained by the commentator differently. According to him, one connected with all things as cause is Mili. It is duplicated to show that Siva is always so. I prefer taking the word as meaning 'cause of causes.' 'The bearer of Danda, with, again, a bald head' is a Paramahansa, i.e., one who has renounced the world and its ways.
1426. The four Sacrificial fires are Treta, Avasathya, Dakshina, and Sahya.
1427. Silpika is one who is not well-skilled, or is ill-skilled, in the arts. It implies a common artisan.
1428. Dhatri is adikartri or Vishnu. Vidhatri is the four-headed. Brahman Sandhatri is he who joins all things into one; the second Vidhatri means the designer of destinies.
1429. The identity of Maheswara with Narayana or Krishna is here preached. In his incarnation of Krishna, Vishnu sported with the children of the cowherds of Vrinda and sportively lowed as a cow. He also protected the kine of Vrinda from floods, poison, etc. Govrisheswara is Nandi, the attendant of Mahadeva.
1430. The word Go in Gomargah is used to signify the senses.
1431. Durvaranah is explained by the commentator as 'irresistible when coming as Death.' Durvishah is 'destroyer of all kinds of poison in thy form of Amrita.' Durdharshah is incapable of being frightened. Durvishah is incapable of being measured.
1432. Vishagnipah is drinker of poison and fire. Siva is represented as the acceptor of all things that are rejected by others. In this consists his true divinity, for to the Deity nothing in the universe can be unacceptable or worthy of being cast off. The ashes of the funeral pyre are his, the poison produced by the churning of the ocean was his. He saved the universe by swallowing the poison on that occasion.
1433. Tushitadyapah is the correct reading. Thou protectest him who is the adya of the tushita, i.e., thou protectest Brahman himself.
1434. The commentator explains that what is meant by Mahadeva's staying 'alone' is that he is the knower, the known, and knowledge. 'On the other side of the ocean' means 'on the other side of desire and attachment, etc.' 'Overwhelming many thousands of persons' means 'overwhelming all creatures,' i.e., transcending them by his energy and knowledge.
1435. Of course, Yogins are spoken of.
1436. The eclipses of both the Moon and the Sun are caused, according to the Pauranic mythology, by Rahu devouring the Moon and the Sun at certain well-known intervals. Rahu is an Asura whose head only is still alive. Vide Adi Parva, On Churning of the Ocean.
1437. Garbhah means embryos or infants in the womb. The deities were referred to by this word, for they are embryos that have been born in Mahadeva. Patitah has twattah understood after it. Anu means 'after' i.e., 'after Brahman's creation.'
1438. These Beings are Rudras or portions of the great Rudra.
1439. Tasmaih paramgatah,--param is utkrishtam i.e., Renunciation and other superior practices. Tasmai is 'for the sake of That,' i.e., for Iswarah.
1440. Hence in this, the present Kalpa too, I am obliged to do the same, for all Kalpas must be similar in respect of the events that transpire in them.
1441. Matri-pakshe seems to be a misreading for bhartripakshe.
1442. By gunah which I have rendered 'virtues,' is, of course, intended all that constitute the body, including mind and understanding, all, in fact, that become the accompaniments of the Soul.
1443. Karma-buddhi is to be taken as one. It means the consciousness or apprehension of functions. Each sense or organ instinctively knows what its object is and apprehends that object immediately. This apprehension of its own functions, which every sense possesses, is here designated as Karma-buddhi. Mana-shashththani here simply means 'mind completing the tale of six.' It has no reference to the five senses having the mind for the sixth, for the senses have already been named in the previous verses.
1444. Acts here means the acts of past lives, or the desire dwelling in an incipient form, due to the acts of past lives. The commentator explains that the cha in the second line means the five attributes indicated in the first line.
1445. The word Buddhya in the first line is taken by the commentator as an instrumental and not as a genitive. Hence he takes it that Kalpitani is understood after it.
1446. i.e., occupies them one after another.
1447. Murti is a misreading for apurti or discontentedness. The Burdwan translator retains murti in his Bengali version. It is not clear which reading K.P. Singha adopts. The Bengali substitute he gives is murchccha or stupefaction.