Kisari Mohan Ganguli - The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

187. The last line is slightly expanded.

188. The sense is this: thou art the eldest brother of the Pandavas; if thou sacrificest, thy brothers also will come to be regarded as sacrificing with thee.

189. Sphya was a wooden sword or scimitar, used for slaying the sacrificial animal. Kurcha is a handful of Kusa grass. All these things are directed by Vyasa to be made of pure gold.

190. It will be remembered that the Samsaptaka host which had engaged Arjuna for several days on the field of Kurukshetra, all consisted of Trigarta warriors led by their king Susarman, Samsaptaka means 'sworn'. Those soldiers who took the oath that they would either conquer or die, wore called by that name.

191. The reading in every edition seems to be vicious. For obvious reasons, I read Parthadupadravat instead of Parthamupadravat.

192. Bhagadatta was the friend of Indra, the father of Arjuna.

193. The allusion is to Mahadeva's pursuing Sacrifice when the latter fled from him in the form of a deer.

194. The Brahmanas were to receive Arjuna duly and the treasure was intended as a present or offering of respect.

195. Ulupi was one of the wives of Arjuna. She was, therefore, the step-mother of Vabhruvahana.

196. Yahubharyyata, meaning polygamy in the first line, should, as the noun of reference for Eshah be taken as vahunam bharyyata, i.e., polyandry, in the second line.

197. To sit in Praya is to remain seated in a particular spot, abstaining from food and drink with a view to cast off one's life-breaths.

198. The sense is, that 'grief does not kill; one does not die till one's hour comes. If it were otherwise, I would have died, so heavy is the load of my affliction.'

199. The name of the city was Suktimati.

200. The etymology of Gudakesa as the lord of Gudaka or sleep, is fanciful.

201. Sakuni was the maternal uncle of Duryodhana and, therefore, of Arjuna also. Sakuni's son and Arjuna, hence, were cousins.

202. The word chara does not mean always a spy. The ancient kings of India had their spies it is true, but they had a regular intelligence department. It was the business of these men to send correct reports to the king of every important occurrence. The news letter-writers of the Mussalman time, or Harkaras, were the successors of the charas of Hindu times.

203. Hetuvadins are dialecticians or philosophers who dispute on the reasons of things.

204. It is worthy of note that Draupadi was always styled by Krishna as his sakhi or 'friend'. Krishna was highly chivalrous to the other sex at an age when women were universally regarded as the inferiors of men.

205. The sense is this: for a horse-sacrifice, the Dakshina or sacrificial present, payable to the principal Ritwija or to be distributed among all the Ritwijas including the other Brahmanas, is enjoined to be of a certain measure. Vyasa advises Yudhishthira to make that Dakshina triple of what the enjoined measure is. By thus increasing the Dakshina, the merit of the sacrificer will increase correspondingly.

206. The Diksha is the ceremony of initiation. Certain mantras are uttered in which the intention is declared of performing what is desired to be performed.

207. The Karma of a sacrifice or religious rite is the procedure. It is, of course, laid down in the scriptures on the ritual. There are certain acts, however, which, though not laid down, should be done agreeably to reasonable inferences. What is said, therefore, in the second line of 20 is that the procedure was fully followed, both as laid down and as consistent with inferences.

208. Pravargya is a special preliminary rite performed in a sacrifice. 'Abhishva' is the extraction of the juice of the Soma plant after its consecration with Mantras.

209. Vitwa is the Aegle marmelos, Linn. Khadira is Acacia catechu, Linn, or Mimosa catechu; Saravarnin is otherwise called, as explained by Nilakantha, Palasa. It is the Butea frondosa of Roxburgh. Devadaru is Pinus Deodara of Roxburgh, or Cedruz Deodara. Sleshmataka is a small tree identified with the Cordia latifolia. Here probably, some other tree is intended.

210. It is difficult to understand what these constructions or figures were. They were probably figures drawn on the sacrificial altar, with gold-dust. At the present day, powdered rice, coloured red, yellow, blue, etc, is used.

211. Each animal is supposed to be agreeable to a particular deity.

212. Suvibhaktan implies that they were properly classed or grouped so that there was no dispute or dissatisfaction among them regarding questions of precedence.

213. Nilakantha explains that Khandavaraga was made of piper longum and dried ginger (powdered), and the juice of Phaseolus Mungo, with sugar. Probably, it is identical with what is now called Mungka laddu in the bazars of Indian towns.

214. The unccha vow consists of subsisting upon grains of corn picked up after the manner of the pigeon from the field after the crops have been cut and removed by the owners.

215. The day of 12 hours is divided into 8 divisions.

216. A prastha is made up of four Kudavas. A Kudava is equal to about twelve double handfuls.

217. This verse is rather obscure. I am not sure that I have understood it correctly. The sense seems to be this: thou art capable of enduring much. Indeed, by barely living, thou art capable of capable of earning religious merit, for life-breath is a great deity. He should not be cast off. Thy life is at stake, for if this guest be not gratified, the thought of it will kill thee. Do thou, therefore, protect thy life by gratifying this guest with my share of the barley.

218. The sense is this: for the sake of those auspicious results after which every family should strive, the daughter-in-law should be well treated. How then can I deprive thee of food?

219. The Diksha consists of the initiatory rites undergone by one desirous of performing a particular sacrifice or completing a particular vow. Some auspicious day is selected. Mantras are uttered and the purpose is expressed in words. There were many long-extending sacrifices which were partly of the nature of vows. Till their completion the performer or observer is said to undergo the period of Diksha.

220. The first line of 20 is differently read in the Bombay text. It runs,--'steadfastly observing my vow, I shall make arrangements for many sacrifices, creating the articles I want by thought alone (or fiats of my will).'

221. Probably, the sense is this: If a Brahmana produced extraordinary results by his penances, a portion of his penances was supposed to be destroyed. The Rishis did not like that any portion of Agastya's penances should be spent for completing his sacrifice.

222. It is difficult to resist the conviction that as much of this section as relates to the mongoose is an interpolation. The Brahmanas could not bear the idea of a sacrifice with such profusion of gifts, as that of Yudhishthira, being censurable. Hence the invention about the transformation of the mongoose. Truly speaking, the doctrine is noble of the gift of a small quantity of barley made under the circumstances being superior in point of merit to even a Horse-sacrifice performed by a king with gifts in profusion made to the Brahmanas

The Mahabharata

of

Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

BOOK 15

ASRAMAVASIKA PARVA

Translated into English Prose from the Original Sanskrit Text

by

Kisari Mohan Ganguli

[1883-1896]

Scanned at sacred-texts.com, 2003. Proofed by John Bruno Hare.

SECTION I

(Asramavasa Parva)

OM! AFTER HAVING bowed down to Narayana, and Nara, the foremost of men, and unto the goddess Saraswati also, must the word Jaya be uttered.

"Janamejaya said 'After having acquired their kingdom, how did my grandsires, the high-souled Pandavas, conduct themselves towards the high-souled king Dhritarashtra? How, indeed, did that king who had all his counsellors and sons slain, who was without a refuge, and whose affluence had disappeared, behave? How also did Gandhari of great fame conduct herself? For how many years did my high-souled grandsires rule the kingdom? It behoveth thee to tell me all this.'