Read Mahabharata Vol. 2 (Penguin Translated Texts) Online
Authors: Bibek Debroy
25
The king of Mathura and the son of Ugrasena. Devaki was Krishna’s mother and Kamsa was her cousin.
26
That is, he married Jarasandha’s daughters.
27
Krishna’s uncle.
28
Balarama.
29
Balarama.
30
The text uses the expression
shatadha
, which is a weapon that can kill a hundred at a time. More common is the expression
shataghni
, which is also a weapon that can kill a hundred (
shata
) at a time.
31
Also known as Dimbhaka.
32
Name for Mathura.
33
Dvaravati.
34
Also known as Raivataka.
35
The Yadavas are descended from Madhu and are known as Madhavas. Madhavitirtha is the same as Raivata and probably means the tirtha of the Madhavas, though Madhavatirtha would have been more appropriate.
36
The eighteen branches of the Yadavas.
37
Meaning Pradyumna, the son of Krishna and Rukmini.
38
Balarama or Baladeva.
39
Shouri is a name for both Krishna and Balarama. But since Krishna is doing the speaking here, the Shouri in question is Balarama.
40
An
atiratha
is a warrior on a chariot who is unrivalled in battle.
41
There are thus ten maharathas.
42
The middle country is the region around Mathura.
43
Jarasandha’s capital in Magadha.
44
Meaning the Himalayas.
45
Meaning Jarasandha, the king of Magadha.
46
That is, through protecting his subjects.
47
Pashupati is Shiva, literally, the lord of animals. The sense is that the imprisoned kings have been prepared like sacrificial animals.
48
Jarasandha is waiting for the tally of imprisoned kings to become one hundred, which is when he will sacrifice them.
49
Arjuna.
50
Arjuna obtained the sabha in the sense that it was because of him that Maya built the assembly hall.
51
Of his enemies.
52
By becoming ascetics.
53
That is, if both sides are guided by good policy.
54
Jarasandha.
55
An akshouhini is an army and consists of 21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 65,610 horses and 109,350 infantrymen.
56
Son of Vishrava. In this context, Kubera.
59
Brihadratha. A few lines later, Magadha will also be used for Jarasandha.
60
Meaning, kings.
61
That is, the ocean.
62
Jarasandha.
63
Rudra, Mahadeva and Hara are different names for Shiva. Tripura was a collection of three (
tri
) cities (
pura
), constructed by Maya for the demons. Tripura was in the sky and the three cities were made out of gold, silver and iron. Shiva burnt them down. Tripura is also the name of the demon-king who ruled over these cities.
64
All names of Yadava tribes.
1
There is a problem of translation here. The text says
prana yuddha
.
Prana
is the breath of life and
yuddha
is battle. What ensues is a duel and wrestling match between Bhima and Jarasandha. Why is it described as a battle of breath? Some regional versions say
bahu
(arm) yuddha, which fits in with a wrestling match. Is it the case that the strength of one’s breath is important in a wrestling match?
2
Arjuna.
3
In this case, Arjuna.
4
Krishna. Shouri is also a name for Balarama.
5
In this case, Arjuna.
6
Although used relatively infrequently, Krishna is also one of Arjuna’s names.
7
The sense probably is that forces must be directed to places where the enemy possesses weaknesses. Holes or gaps are symbolic of weaknesses.
8
Krishna was the Pandavas’ cousin.
9
The word used is
snataka
, meaning a brahmana who has completed his period of celibate student life and is about to step into the householder stage.
10
Literally, the forest (
jangala
) of the Kuru kingdom. It roughly corresponds to Haryana today.
11
Literally, a lake with lotuses.
12
A mountain towards the north.
13
Geographically, this cannot be in sequence. In sequence, the journey to Magadha would have involved crossing the rivers Gandaki, Sadanira and Shona, in that order.
14
The river Sarayu flows through Koshala, a region around Ayodha. Again geographically, they should have crossed the Sarayu earlier.
15
Charmanvati is today’s Chambal and actually takes them in a completely opposite direction. The next sentence takes them back to the right route.
16
The amaranth tree.
17
Obviously meaning the capital of Magadha, Girivraja or Rajagriha. Girivraja is surrounded by five hills, but none of them is today known as Goratha. These hills will be named in the next chapter.
18
The word is usually used for a son, but has a more general meaning and can be applied to any student, child, inferior or junior. It is a term of affection. The word is also used for a father or someone in similar paternal position.
19
Rajagriha’s five hills are today known as Vipulagiri, Ratnagiri, Udayagiri, Shonagiri and Vaibhara (or Vyahara).
20
Tree with red or white flowers.
21
Tree, also known as
piyala
.
22
That is, there is never scarcity of rain. Mani is also known as Maniman.
23
There is clearly a problem with the text here, since the word used is
masha
, which means bean. Should it be
mamsa
(meat), as it reads in some regional versions? Then, Brihadratha may have killed a meat-eating demon named Rishabha. Nor is it clear that Rishabha is a proper name. The word also means a bull. In that case, why did Brihadratha kill a bean-eating bull and why is it important enough to be mentioned?
24
The drums were made out of Rishabha’s skin. So perhaps it was a bull.
25
One of the five peaks.
26
As a metaphor, by scaling Chaitya.
27
Presumably, they broke down a fortification on the mountain, rather than the mountain itself. The word
shringa
, which is used, means the peak of a turret, as well as that of a mountain.
28
Known as
madhuparka
and customarily offered to a guest.
29
Krishna’s name.
32
A crowd had assembled to watch the duel and people had to back off if the wrestlers approached too close.
33
That is, Krishna didn’t directly speak to Bhima what he intended. Directly advising a warrior engaged in a duel would have been improper. Krishna offered advice that seemingly meant one thing, but reading between the lines, was interpreted by Bhima the way Krishna meant it to be interpreted. Bhima understood that Jarasandha was now weakened.
34
Kunti’s son and, in this context, Bhima.
37
The kings, some of whom must have been Yadavas.
38
Krishna.
39
Bhima and Arjuna.
40
A demon eventually killed by Kartikeya.
41
Garuda came and sat on the flagstaff.
42
Krishna.
43
As the king.
44
Bhima and Arjuna.
45
Yudhishthira.
46
They had also come to Indraprastha.
47
Krishna.
48
Droupadi.
49
Arjuna.
50
Yudhishthira.
1
Another name for Kubera, the lord of wealth. Since this was to the north, Arjuna’s quest for victory was in a northern direction.
2
Paka was a demon vanquished by Indra and Arjuna was Indra’s son.
3
Also known as Kulinda, but difficult to pinpoint.
4
The region around Dvaraka.
5
Identified with Sialkot.
6
The word used in the text is dvipa, which not only means island, but also a continent or region of the earth. The earth was commonly believed to be divided into seven continents.
7
Shakala had kings other than Prativindhya too.
8
Assam.
9
Should be identified with Tibet rather than China proper.
10
Presumably, the Bay of Bengal. The text is best translated as ‘surrounded’. However, the sense probably is that these warriors also supported Bhagadatta.
11
Tone of affection towards a junior, not to be literally interpreted as son.
12
The tribute.
13
Kubera.
14
Brihanta.
15
It is not clear why Brihanta’s intelligence was limited. Some regional versions say that Brihanta was invincible and that certainly fits the circumstances better.
16
Arjuna was aided in his next campaign by Brihanta.
17
Arjuna.
18
A wild tribe that lived in the Himalayas. The word
utsava
means festival and also means height or elevation. It is not obvious how the name Utsavasamketa relates to the word utsava.
19
Arjuna’s name, meaning the one who wore a diadem.
20
Identified with what is West Bengal now.
21
The famous Cholas ruled in the south. So this must be a different set of Cholas.
22
The region around Punjab.
23
Another name for Arjuna, shorter form of Phalguna or Phalguni.
24
Area around the Hindu Kush, extending up to Ladakh and Tibet.
25
Famous battle between the gods and the demons. It took place after Chandra, the moon, abducted Tara, Brihaspati’s wife.
26
One who has no decay, a name usually used for Krishna.
27
Gandaki is a tributary of the Ganga and Videha is the region to the north-east of Magadha, including parts of what is now Nepal.
28
Dasharna is the region around Vidisha and there is a geographical problem. Not only is Dasharna far from Videha, it cannot be described as part of the east.
29
It was an unarmed wrestling match.
30
Kunti’s son. Here, Bhima.
34
The text says
pashubhumi
, translated as the land (
bhumi)
with animals (
pashu
). It is perfectly possible that there might have been someone named Pashubhumi.
35
This broadly covers the territory of Bengal, that is, West Bengal and Bangladesh. It was to the west of Vanga.
36
Karna was the king of Anga.
37
Probably a wrestling match.
38
The name of a river, Koshi in Bihar.
39
Bengal, specifically the eastern part, mostly in Bangladesh now.
40
Capital of the Suhmas. Tamralipta is identified with today’s Tamluk. At that time, it was on the sea.
41
Pavana is the god of the wind and Bhima was his son.
42
The Brahmaputra River, so named because it had a reddish tinge.
43
Bhima.
44
The text says ten
koti
s and a koti is ten million.
45
There is a geographical inconsistency, since the Shurasenas refer to the region around Mathura.
46
Also known as Virata, in Rajasthan today.
47
Kuntibhoja.
48
Of the Pandavas.
49
The river Chambal.
50
The next sentence states that this son’s name was Bhoja.
51
There is a problem with the text of the critical edition here. It is not clear whom this tribute was extracted from. Other versions have a sentence about Sahadeva defeating the Sekas. Had this sentence been included in the critical edition, the tribute would have been from the Sekas.
52
The country around the Narmada. Its capital was Ujjayini (Ujjain), also known as Avantipuri.
53
The capital of the Chedi kingdom, adjacent to Avanti. In today’s Madhya Pradesh.