Read Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) Online
Authors: Bibek Debroy
547
The Ashvins.
548
Meaning, someone who is old and is about to die.
549
His wife.
550
Mada
means intoxication, insanity, arrogance.
551
Pushkara is a specific tirtha and is a proper name. But it also means a body of water in general.
552
That is, attained salvation. Dhata and Vidhata are both words for the creator. Dhata has the nuance of someone who preserves, while Vidhata has the nuance of someone who arranges.
555
Into the water.
556
Derived from
mam dhata
, ‘the nurse will be me’.
557
The word used is
kishku.
Kishku is the length of a forearm, that is, one cubit.
558
This is a reference to Vishnu’s vamana (dwarf) avatara, where Vishnu covered the three worlds in his three strides.
559
Chakra. An emperor is known as
chakravarti
.
560
A padma is one thousand billion, that is, one trillion.
561
Indra. Indra showers down rain.
562
Mandhata killed the king of Gandhara.
563
This is in the singular. So Somaka is addressing the chief priest.
564
That is, they have grown old.
568
Meaning Yayati, the son of Nahusha.
569
A tree believed to have fire inside it.
570
Parashurama.
571
Richika’s son is Jamadagni and Jamadagni’s son is Parashurama. The text uses the word ‘son’ in an extended sense and Parashurama, rather than Jamadagni, is meant.
572
An ulukhala is a wooden mortar used for cleaning rice.
573
All of these are spots around Kurukshetra.
574
Beyond the suggestion that one shouldn’t dwell there for more than one night, it is impossible to understand what this means.
575
Meaning Arjuna.
576
Meaning Kurukshetra.
Kshetra
means field and Kurukshetra literally means Kuru’s field.
577
Having disappeared into the desert, the Sarasvati reappears in three places further downstream—Chamasodbheda, Shirobheda and Nagobheda.
578
The Beas.
579
The story has been recounted in Section 11 (Volume 1).
580
Kashmir, but written as Kashmira because of the style we have followed.
581
Meaning Yayati, Nahusha’s son.
582
The Lake Manas or Manasa Sarovar. Mount Kailasha is next to Manasa Sarovar and the reference to Parashurama concerns Kailasha.
588
A plantain tree is weak. Therefore, one should not climb it.
589
Agni. The text uses Havyavahana, one of Agni’s names, meaning the bearer of sacrificial offerings.
590
Ashta
is eight and
vakra
is bent or crooked, the reference being to a physical deformity.
591
Bandi was thus a suta or charioteer.
592
Shvetaketu’s father, that is, Uddalaka.
593
Ashtavakra.
594
King Janaka and Ashtavakra met each other on the road. Since the king was travelling along the same road, Ashtavakra seems to have been restrained by a guard or gatekeeper.
595
Ashtavakra spoke to King Janaka. This part is not very smooth. Ashtavakra thereafter speaks to the gatekeeper and the conversation with King Janaka doesn’t quite belong. It resumes again later.
596
Brahmanas are being compared to fires and there is no brahmana who is minor.
597
The word used is tata. This means son and is used affectionately for any inferior. Ashtavakra is addressing the gatekeeper, who is an inferior.
598
Indradyumna was Janaka’s father.
599
These are Bandi’s words.
600
The preceptor.
601
The silk-cotton tree.
602
That is, the number of relatives.
603
This is a quote being ascribed to the sages.
604
Of time. Twenty-four hours in the day, six seasons, twelve months and three hundred and sixty days.
605
Agni or the fire-god has the wind as a charioteer and the two are thunder and lightning, causing fire and originating in fire.
606
This is being addressed to Bandi.
607
The act of conception, the birth and the related rituals and initiation at the time of the thread-bearing ceremony.
608
A reference to the three Vedas recited at the sacrifice, the Atharva Veda not being included.
609
Pressing to extract the soma juice. There are four types of officiating priests—
hotar
(one who recites from the Rig Veda), udgatar (one who recites from the Sama Veda), adhvaryu (one who recites from the Yajur Veda) and brahman (one who recites from the Atharva Veda).
610
The sun, the moon and the stars.
611
Brahmacharya,
garhasthya, vanavasa
and
sannyasa.
612
This is a completely literal translation. However, the word
go
also means speech and in addition to feet, the word
pada
means one-fourth of a shloka. This may very well have been the intended meaning.
613
The five sacred fires known as
dakshina, garhapatya, ahavaniya, sabhya
and
avasathya.
There are also believed to be five digestive fires in the body.
614
Again, the word used is pada.
Pankti
means any collection of five.
615
The five daily sacrifices required to be performed by any householder—
adhyana
(studying),
brahma yajna, pitri yajna, deva yajna
and
bhuta yajna
.
616
Apsaras are believed to have five tufts of hair. We have deviated from the Critical Edition’s text here. The Critical Edition leaves it dangling and the line ends abruptly. So we do not know who has five tufts of hair. Other versions mention apsaras.
617
The five rivers of the Punjab—Shatadru, Vipasha, Iravati, Chandrabhaga and Vitasta.
618
The five standard organs and the mind.
619
The third of the twenty-seven nakshatras, the constellation Pleiades, consisting of six stars.
620
A sadasyka is a rite connected with a soma sacrifice and six such rites are performed on a single day.
621
The seven types of domestic animals are a cow, a goat, a sheep, a man, a horse, a mule and an ass and the inclusion of a man in listings of domestic animals is interesting. But this list does vary from one text to another. The seven wild animals are a lion, a tiger, a boar, a monkey, a bear, an elephant and a buffalo.
622
Chhanda
. The list of seven varies, but the standard list is gayatri,
trishtupa, jagati, anushtupa,
pankti, brihati and
kakupa.
623
The saptarshis. The usual list is Marichi, Atri, Angira, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Vasishtha.
624
This listing is not immediately clear.
625
This is probably a reference to coinage or weight. In coinage, shana or
karshapana
is mentioned and
shatamana
(literally, one hundred units) is also mentioned. This may refer to the conversion between shana and shatamana.
626
Sharabha is mythical and has evolved over time. Sharabha has eight legs, lives in the mountains, slays lions and lives on raw flesh. In later versions, Sharabha is also described as an incarnation of Shiva’s and in that form, Shiva tamed Vishnu’s half-man and half-lion (narasimha) incarnation.
627
The numerals 1 to 9.
628
There is a problem in translating this. Does this mean there are ten stages in life and does each of these stages refer to a decade? A typo is more likely. The text should probably read
disha
rather than
dasha
. In that case, the ten directions are meant. Some non-Critical versions do read disha.
629
This is difficult to understand. The Dasherakas, Dashas and Dasharnas are all tribes or clans of people mentioned in the Mahabharata. Perhaps this means that each of these tribes or clans were further subdivided into ten subgroups.
630
Ekadashi is observed on the eleventh lunar day.
631
The meaning is unclear.
632
Dvipa.
633
The meaning is unclear.
634
Jataveda is one of Agni’s ephithets. Jataveda means one who knows the Vedas and is also generally used for someone who knows.
635
Shleshmataki is a kind of tree with bitter fruit. Has Bandi been weakened because of eating this fruit?
636
Kahoda will be resurrected.
637
The name of a river.
638
Bharata, the ancestor of the Bharata lineage. Although written in the translation as Bharata, the descendants are Bhaarata.
639
Because Indra had killed the brahmana Vritra.
642
There are no quotation marks in the text. But we have inserted them, as this seems to be what the gods told Valadhi.
643
That is, as long as the mountains were around, the son would not die.
646
The daughter-in-law.
647
A kritya is a female deity, worshipped for magical and destructive purposes.
648
Kamandalu.
649
The kritya.
650
The guard remained seated and did not stand up on seeing Bharadvaja.
651
Because Yavakrita’s kamandalu had been stolen, he could not clean himself.
652
A yatudhana is an evil spirit or demon.
653
The word used is Suparna. Suparna is one of Garuda’s names, though the text uses Suparna in the plural. Therefore, these are semi-divine birds, more than ordinary birds.
654
Lomasha is reciting this invocation to Ganga.
655
Ajamidha was a common ancestor of the Kouravas and the Pandavas.
656
Referring to Lomasha’s nervousness.
657
The word used is tata, which can affectionately be used for anyone who is younger or inferior.