Read Mahabharata Vol. 2 (Penguin Translated Texts) Online
Authors: Bibek Debroy
85
Varuna.
86
That is, will have to kill myself.
89
Bhogavati is the capital city of the nagas and is located in the nether regions.
90
The four gods, Shakra, Agni, Varuna and Yama had assumed forms that were identical to that of Nala.
91
Indra.
92
Punyashloka is one of Nala’s epithets.
93
That is, divine marks. Gods do not perspire. Nor do their eyes blink. Their feet do not touch the ground and they do not have any shadows.
94
As a mark of choosing him.
95
Each of the four gods gave two boons.
96
Indra.
97
Agni.
98
Agni.
99
Varuna.
100
Yayati figures in several sections, such as Section 33.
101
In the four yuga cycle,
dvapara
and kali are the third and the fourth yuga, with dharma progressively declining as one moves down the yugas. Here, the third and the fourth yugas have been personified.
102
Dvapara is also the side of a dice marked with two points,
satya
or
krita
with four points,
treta
with three points and kali with one point.
103
Enter Nala’s body. An act of sin would permit Kali to enter Nala’s body and make Nala addictive towards gambling and dice.
104
The word used is sandhya, which means both dawn and dusk, and the attendant ceremonies. In the translation, we have used the evening sense.
105
Pushkara was Nala’s brother. The word pushkara also means intoxication.
106
This imagery is difficult to understand. It probably means that Kali became the chief dice with which the game would be played.
107
The bull is the dice with Kali inside it.
108
Damayanti.
109
The words hiranya and
suvarna
are separately used. However, hiranya also means silver or any other precious metal. Since the two words are separately used, we have translated hiranya as silver.
110
Nala’s charioteer Varshneya.
111
Nala and Damayanti’s son and daughter.
112
Kundina is the capital of Vidarbha, that is, Damayanti’s father’s capital.
113
That is, Indrasenaa, to distinguish from the boy Indrasena.
117
The southern part of India, the region of the Deccan.
118
Damayanti had shared her garment with Nala.
119
The word used is sabha. This means an assembly hall or council. It also means a place where gambling occurs. But it is also generally used for any place frequented by the public.
120
That is, she became tired.
121
An
ajagara
. An ajagara is so named because it swallows goats (
aja
).
122
The word used is
graham
, normally used for a crocodile or shark.
123
The word used is
lubdhaka
, which means a hunter, but can also be a proper name. It also means someone who is covetous.
124
Kind of tree.
125
The sacred fig tree.
126
Kind of tree.
127
Tree used for medicinal purposes.
128
Tree with red blossoms.
129
Kind of tree.
130
The soap-berry tree.
131
Sandalwood trees.
132
The silk-cotton tree.
133
The rose-apple tree.
134
Tree with red or white flowers.
135
Kind of tree.
136
Teak.
137
Kind of plant.
138
Myrobalan.
139
Fig trees.
140
Flowering tree.
141
Kind of tree.
142
The jujube tree.
143
Indian fig tree.
144
Name of a tree, also known as piyala.
145
Palmyra trees.
146
Date trees.
147
A green herb.
148
Kind of myrobalan tree.
149
Nala.
150
Kind of tree with fragrant blossoms.
151
Name of a tree with fragrant blossoms, also known as
nagakeshara.
152
Nala.
155
It is not obvious what Dramida is. It could be that Dravida is meant. Alternatively, there might be a typo, because some regional versions have
parvata
instead of Dramida. In that case, the tree would be compared to a king of the mountains.
156
The ashoka tree has red flowers and is believed to blossom when it is struck by the feet of beautiful women.
Shoka
means sorrow and the tree’s name literally means without sorrow. It is so named because it removes sorrow from the mind of anyone who looks at the tree. That’s the reason Damayanti asks the tree to alleviate her sorrow.
157
In accordance with your name.
158
The ruddy goose.
159
The feminine of yaksha and rakshasa respectively.
160
The elephants who were part of the caravan.
161
A sairandhri is a female servant who works in the inner quarters and is therefore superior to a common slave girl. This was also the name Droupadi used when she became a servant to Sudeshna, King Virata’s wife. By describing herself as a sairandhri, Damayanti is signifying her desire to work in the palace.
162
Nala had a boon that a fire would do him no harm.
163
This is a reference to Kali, who is inside Nala.
164
The sense is not clear. Perhaps it is a reference to those who possessed secret knowledge.
165
Rituparna was the king of Ayodhya.
166
Rituparna’s charioteers. Varshneya is Nala’s old charioteer, who has found employment with Rituparna.
167
Manmatha is the god of love and Rati is his consort.
168
Rahu is a demon who sought to drink
amrita
, but was caught, and resolved vengeance on the sun and the moon. Consequently, as one of the nine planets, Rahu swallows up the sun and the moon at the time of eclipses.
169
Rohini is the fourth nakshatra. While all the nakshatras are married to the moon, Rohini is the favourite wife.
170
A birthmark. Alternatively, a mole.
171
It was a palanquin.
172
Another name for Rituparna.
173
Sudeva.
174
Avarta
, an auspicious lock of hair on the back of a horse, curling backwards.
175
A famous authority who wrote about horses.
176
This is strange, because Bahuka is deformed.
177
Since Varshneya is Nala’s old charioteer, he knows Nala well. The only difficulty is that Nala’s form is now different.
178
Bahuka.
179
Of reaching Vidarbha in time.
180
Meaning Damayanti.
181
The capital of Vidarbha.
182
The ones that were in Vidarbha, not the ones Nala was driving.
183
It is not clear what this means. Perhaps it means that Nala has never made excessive demands on Damayanti. Perhaps it means that Nala has behaved like an impotent person towards other women.
184
Of the palace.
185
Was not known to Bhima. So Bhima wondered why Rituparna had suddenly come.
186
This is the daughter Indrasenaa. The son is Indrasena. But given the way names have been written in this translation, Indrasenaa is also written as Indrasena.
187
With a message.
188
To Bhima.
189
Nala had held it in trust.
190
Bahuka (Nala) could no longer be his charioteer. Varshneya was Nala’s charioteer and would therefore stay on with Nala.
191
The word used is ayuta, meaning ten thousand. But here, many years, rather than a precise number, are meant.
192
Nala.
193
Pushkara.
194
One of the seven continents (dvipa) that surround Mount Meru. Bharatavarsha is part of Jambudvipa.
199
Jaya is one of Arjuna’s names and means victory. Jaya is also one of Yudhishthira’s names.
200
Meaning the other Pandavas.
201
Kubera’s park or pleasure garden.
202
Yudhishthira.
203
The many-armed Arjuna is Kartavirya Arjuna, the king of the Haihayas who was killed by Parashurama.
204
Pundarikaksha means lotus-eyed, since pundarika is a white lotus and aksha means eye. Pundarikaksha is a proper name for Vishnu, and Krishna. Pundarikaksha is not quite a proper name for Arjuna, unless he is equated with Vishnu or Krishna. Perhaps Droupadi simply means that Arjuna has eyes like those of a lotus.
205
Vasava is Indra and Arjuna is Indra’s son.
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First published by Penguin Books India 2010
Translation copyright © Bibek Debroy 2010
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ISBN: 978-01-4310-014-0
This digital edition published in 2012.
e-ISBN: 978-81-8475-403-2
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