FOOTNOTES
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Ganguli, Kisari Mohan
1719. The ten boundaries or commandments, as mentioned by the Commentator, are the five positive ones, viz., Purity, Contentment, Penances, Study of the Vedas, Meditation on God, and the five negative ones, viz., abstention from cruelty, from untruth, from theft, from non-observance of vows, and from acquisition of wealth.
1720. Chirasya is grammatically connected with na vudhyase, meaning 'that thou art always blind etc.' The Burdwan translator misunderstands it completely and takes it as equivalent to achirena. K. P. Singha skips over it.
1721. The Burdwan translator gives a ridiculous version of the verse.
1722. Kevalam nidhim is literally, 'one's only treasure'. It may imply either Samadhi or Brahma. Acts, whether good or bad, all arise from error. Abstention from acts is the true way to Emancipation.
1723. The passions are spoken of as wolves.
1724. The sight of golden trees is a premonitory sign of Death.
1725. Literally rendered, the verse would run thus: Before the cooking is complete of the Yavaka of a rich man, in fact, while it is still uncooked, thou mayst meet with death. Do thou, therefore, hasten. By Yavaka is meant a particular kind of food made of ghee and flour or barley.
1726. In verse 53 it is said that the Soul is the witness in the other world of all acts and omission in this life. In verse 54, what is said is that the existence of the Soul when the body is not, is possible, for Yogins, in Yoga, live in their Soul, unconscious the while of their bodies. The entrance of the acting-Chaitanya into that Chaitanya which survives as the witness means the death of the body.
1727. The Burdwan translator gives an erroneous version of this verse.
1728. I think the sense is that only righteousness can bring a man to the path that leads to happiness and not mere instructions howsoever repeated.
1729. The Commentator explains that Pramadagah is equivalent to Pramadagrihavasin and refers to Antakah. Chamum is Indriyasenam. Grahitam is body. Yathagrahitam is dehamanatikramya. In this verse pura may mean either in the near future or soon, or pura may mean before, i.e., before the Destroyer makes thy senses so, etc.
1730. The road in which thyself shalt be in front and thyself in the rear is the road of Self-knowledge. The Burdwan translator does not understand how the first line comes to mean Knowledge of Self! Accordingly, though he uses the word amajnana (following the Commentator), yet he erroneously repeats some of the words used in the line.
1731. The last word of the second line is muchyate and not yujyate. If yujyate be adhered to, meaning would be 'freed the consequences of ignorance and error, he would succeed in attaining to Brahma.'
1732. This is a very abstruse verse. I have rendered it, following the lead of the Commentator, Srutam, he explains it 'the knowledge, born of vedic declarations like Tattwamasi etc.' Sarvamasnute is equivalent to samastam Brahmandam vyapnoti, meaning such knowledge leads to sarvatmyam, i.e., omniscience Tadetat etc., i.e., that omniscience is the darsanam, of parampurushartha or Moksha. Kritajna upadishtam artham is Samhitam.
1733. The sense is that in course of our repeated rebirths we have got these relations repeatedly and will get them as repeatedly. But we are, in reality, quite unconnected with them. Their union with us like the union of pieces of wood floating in a river, now joined together temporarily, now separated.
1734. Mokshadaisikam is explained by the commentator as Mokshandeshataram. K. P. Singha wrongly renders this word. This section is called pavakadhyayanam, meaning chitta-sodhakadhyayanam, that is, the lesson which, when read and mastered, is to lead to the cleansing of the heart.
1735. Time, as a personified agent, is throwing all creatures at unequal distances. Some are thrown near and some to a great distance. These distances are regulated by the nature of the acts done by the creatures thrown. Some are cast among animals, some among men. Throwing or hurling them thus, Time drags them again, the binding-cords being always in his hands.
1736. Both the vernacular translators have misunderstood the first line of this verse although there is no difficulty in it. Apastamva says drishto dharma-vyatikrama; Sahasancha purvesham. What Bhishma says here is that one should not speak of those instances of Vyatikramah and Sahasam.
1737. Although the Vedas came to Suka of their own accord, yet he was in deference to the universal custom, obliged to formally acquire them from a preceptor.
1738. Vyasa was the priest or Ritwija of the house of Mithila and as such the kings of Mithila were his Yajyas or Yajamanas. The duty of a Yajamana is to reverence every member of the priest's family. The sire, therefore, cautions the son that he should not, while living with the king of Mithila, assert his superiority over him in any respect.
1739. It is certain that one must abandon all acts before one can attain to Emancipation. But then acts should not be cast off all at once. It is according to this order that they should be abandoned, i.e., in the order of the several modes.
1740. The karanas are the inner faculties.
1741. i.e., when Emancipation and omniscience have been attained in the very first mode of life, no further need exists for conforming to the three other modes of life.
1742. i.e., behold the Supreme Soul by his own Soul.
1743. Instead of papakam some texts read pavakam, meaning of the nature of fire.
1744. After manasa, saha is understood. It does not mean that the senses are to be restrained by the mind, but the words imply that the mind and the senses are to be restrained. K. P. Singha renders the line correctly. The Burdwan translator, as usual, is careless.
1745. K. P. Singha skips over this verse.
1746. i.e., he turned his soul's gaze on his soul and withdrew himself from every worldly object.
1747. He no longer walked like ordinary men. Without trailing along the solid support of the Earth, he proceeded through the sky.
1748. Popularly, Bhimaraja, the Lanius Malabaricus.
1749. It is believed that a person, by performing austere penances, scorches the three worlds. It is in consequence of this effect of penances that the superior deities were always compelled by the Asuras and Danavas to grant them whatever boons they solicited.
1750. The sense is that if the Vedas are not constantly studied, they are likely to be forgotten.
1751. Upaplava is Rahu or the ascending node. In many parts of Upper India, during the hot months in particular, large quantities of dust are raised by whirl winds in the afternoon or at evening called Andhi the clouds of dust cover the moon for hours together.
1752. The lowest order of men, living by slaying animals.
1753. The verse in the Bengal texts is a triplet. In the Bombay edition, the third line is excluded from verse 36. There is no inconvenience in this, only, it should be construed as referring to the wind called Samana or Pravaha.
1754. Some texts read Jaytamvarah. If this be accepted, it should be an adjective of Parivaha, meaning the foremost of all in the strength or energy.
1755. The sacred river Ganga has it is said, three courses or streams. One flows on the surface of the Earth, the second flows through the nether regions, and the third flows through heaven.
1756. The first line runs into the second.
1757. Penances should be protected from wrath. By penances one attains to great power. The ascetic's puissance frequently equals that of Brahman himself. If, however, the ascetic indulges in wrath and curses one from wrath, his puissance becomes diminished. For this reason, forgiveness is said to be the highest virtue a Brahmana can practise. A Brahmana's might lay in forgiveness. Knowledge also should be protected from honour and dishonour, i.e. one should never receive honour for his knowledge, that is, do anything for the object of achieving honour. Similarly, one should never do anything which may have the effect of dishonouring one's knowledge. These are some of the highest duties preached in scriptures.
1758. The saying Satyadapi hitam vadet is frequently misunderstood. The scriptures do not say that truth should be sacrificed in view of what is beneficial, for such view will militate with the saying that there is nothing higher than truth. The saying has reference to those exceptional instances where truth becomes a source of positive harm. The story of the Rishi who spoke the truth respecting the place where certain travellers lay concealed, when questioned by certain robbers who were for killing the travellers, is an instance to the point. The goldsmith's son who died with a falsehood on his lips for allowing his lawful prince to escape from the hands of his pursuers did a meritorious act of loyalty. Then, again, the germ of the utilitarian theory may be detected in the second line of this verse.