640 Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa.
641 Such as the asuras.
642 And not in terms of deceptive differences.
643 Narada.
644 Ajatashatru is Yudhishthira and the reference is to Yudhishthira’s royal sacrifice.
645 At the royal sacrifice, when Krishna killed Shishupala, the lord of Chedi, Shishupala’s atman merged into Krishna’s body.
646 King Vena, an evil king, was killed by the brahmanas. King Prithu was Vena’s son.
647 Damaghosha was Shishupala’s father.
648 Dantavakra was Shishupala’s cousin. He wasn’t present at the royal sacrifice and was killed by Krishna later. Therefore, there is an inconsistency in the way this is stated.
649 This is a reference to predatory wasps, which lay an egg on a prey (as food for the offspring) and then seal the nest.
650 The worm thinks about the wasp and assumes the form of the wasp. Similarly, one is drawn close to Vishnu.
651 Wives of cowherds (gopas).
652 The Pandavas.
653 Shishupala was the son of Shrutashrava, Kunti’s sister. Dantavakra was the son of Shrutadeva, also Kunti’s sister.
654 Marichi and the other sages.
655 Jaya and Vijaya.
656 Vishnu.
657 The sages.
658 The half-man–half-lion incarnation.
659 Hiranyakashipu.
660 Vishnu.
661 Hiranyakashipu.
662 One with two heads.
663 One with one hundred arms.
664 One with the head of a horse.
665 A reference to the gods.
666 A boar.
667 This is specifically addressed to Diti.
668 Their reflection in the water.
669 Though the plural is used, Yama means himself, in the form of a boy.
670 Such as riches lost along the way, which may be regained. The text doesn’t indicate whether something animate or inanimate is meant. But the purport is identical.
671 Sparrow or shrike.
672 This is Hiranyakashipu’s resolution, as reported by the gods. Parameshthi is Brahma.
673 The implicit suggestion is that Brahma’s position is also temporary.
674 Dharma leading to bad consequences, adharma leading to good consequences, demons residing in heaven, gods residing in the nether regions and so on.
675 This causes problems of interpretations that are not easily solvable. Hiranyakashipu seems to think that positions occupied by devotees of Vishnu (Vaishnavas) and Vishnu’s world are destroyed at the end of a kalpa. He also seems to think that Brahma’s position is not destroyed at the end of a kalpa and therefore, he would prefer that. Irrespective of whether this is true or not, this contradicts what he has himself stated earlier.
676 Agnishtoma, atyagnishtoma, ukthya, shodashi, vajapeya, atiratra and aptoryama.
677 There were four classes of priests, though the classification varied over time. The hotri is the chief priest and is accomplished in the Rig Veda. The adhvaryu is the assistant priest and is accomplished in the Yajur Veda, though later, the udgatri came to be identified with the Sama Veda. In addition, there was the brahmana or purohita.
678 There are units for measuring time and lava is one of these. The details have been given in the Third Skandha.
679 Kala.
680 There is an interpretation we have glossed over. The text uses the words chit and achit. Chit is interpreted as true knowledge that is internal, while achit is external and represents the power of maya.
681 Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
682 The rivers.
683 Flowers and fruits.
684 Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanatkumara.
685 Of material objects.
686 Hari.
687 Hari.
688 Shukracharya.
689 Of identification with the body.
690 Hari.
691 As in danda, the other three being sama, dana and bheda.
692 Of the sandalwood trees.
693 Dharma, artha and kama.
694 The four principles are interpreted as sama, dana, danda and bheda. However, since dharma, artha and kama have just been mentioned, it seems to us that the four principles should be interpreted as dharma, artha, kama and moksha.
695 In the singular, so probably addressed to Shanda.
696 One who is a brahmana only in name, worst among brahmanas.
697 A reference to birth and death in the cycle of samsara.
698 Demons.
699 Shunahshepa was the son of the sage Ajigarta and was sold by his father to King Harishchandra, for a sacrifice. He was subsequently saved by the sage Vishvamitra and never forgave his father.
700 Shukracharya.
701 To play.
702 Material objects and wealth.
703 Intercourse and food.
704 Relating to adhidaivika (destiny), adhibhoutika (nature) and adhyatmika (one’s own nature).
705 This can be interpreted as, does not know his atman.
706 Artha and kama.
707 Hiranyakashipu.
708 Of killing the infant.
709 Birth, existence, growth, maturity, decay and death.
710 Eternal, without decay, pure, one, witness, refuge, no transformation, self-illuminating, cause, pervasive, without attachment and without being covered.
711 The eight prakritis are the original Prakriti, Mahat, ahamkara and the five subtle elements. The three gunas are sattva, rajas and tamas. The sixteen transformations mean the five gross elements, five senses, five organs of action and the mind.
712 This is a reference to the four states of consciousness—wakefulness (jagrata), dreaming (svapna), deep sleep (sushupti) and pure consciousness (turiya). While this has been interpreted in many ways, to us, intelligence seems to mean the turiya stage.
713 Narada.
714 This is interpreted as offering everything obtained to the preceptor, but that isn’t obvious. Everything obtained can also be offered to Krishna.
715 The six vices, kama (desire), krodha (anger), lobha (avarice), moha (delusion), mada (pride) and matsarya (jealousy).
716 The devotee.
717 Taking them to be Krishna.
718 The illustrious one’s.
719 After death, such as worms and predatory creatures.
720 The atman, it embraces another body.
721 The area around Vrindavana, but in general, any area where there are settlements of cowherds.
722 Meaning Shanda.
723 Hiranyakashipu’s.
724 The six vices, kama (desire), krodha (anger), lobha (avarice), moha (delusion), mada (pride) and matsarya (jealousy).
725 Hiranyakashipu.
726 Garuda.
727 The wielder (dhara) of the club (gada), Hari.
728 By Hiranyakashipu.
729 Nri-Hari, that is, Nrisimha.
730 At the sound of the laughter, Hiranyakashipu closed his eyes in terror.
731 The austerities, stolen by Hiranyakashipu.
732 Vidya means knowledge. Thus vidyadhara, one who holds knowledge.
733 Narahari, Nara-Hari, is the same as Nri-Hari. Panchatva simply means death, that is, when the body is separated into the five elements. But there is another meaning too. A living being has four states—waking, dreaming, sleeping and turiya. Turiya is the fourth state, when one perceives union between the human soul atman and the brahman. Panchatva is the fifth state, beyond turiya. Twenty-four principles of samkhya are Prakriti, Mahat, ahamkara, the five gross elements, the five subtle elements, five organs of sense, five organs of action and the mind. Thus, Purusha is the twenty-fifth.
734 Vaitalikas are bards and panegyrists, but is probably being used here to also mean the vetalas.
735 The story of the leader of a herd of elephants will be told in the Eighth Skandha.
736 Literally, a svapacha is someone who eats dogs or cooks for dogs. In most instances, it is used as a synonym for a chandala.
737 The twelve qualities are virtue, sattva, self-control, austerities, lack of jealousy, modesty, fortitude, tolerance, performance of sacrifices, charity, courage and studying.
738 Because the effects are only temporary.
739 This shloka has many complicated interpretations. So do the immediately succeeding ones.
740 The five senses, the five organs of action, the five subtle elements and the mind.
741 Bhava is Shiva and Rama is Lakshmi.
742 We have taken the rishi to mean Narada, but it might also mean Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana or Sanatkumara.
743 The universe (the effect) is no different from you (the cause). The tree (the effect) is no different from the seed (the cause). The earth (the effect) is no different from its subtle element (the cause).
744 The universe.
745 That is, Shesha.
746 Brahma.
747 Because you only appear in three yugas.
748 The river Vaitarani flows in the nether regions and must be crossed before entering Yama’s world.
749 Meaning, ‘Oum! O illustrious one! I bow down before you. O great-souled being! O Hari! O one with this wonderful lion as your form! O brahman! O paramatman!’
750 There is an issue of interpretation. Hiranyakashipu was third in descent, from Brahma. Therefore, there aren’t twenty-one generations in his ancestral lineage. Thus, twenty-one generations are interpreted as the ancestors in twenty-one of Prahlada’s former lives.
751 Brahma.
752 Shukracharya.
753 Brahma.
754 Hari, or Rama.
755 Dantavakra, Dantavakra was the king of Karusha.
756 That is, they were killed in your presence.
757 As Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu.
758 Shiva.
759 Maya.
760 Vishnu.
761 There are thirty muhurtas in a span of twnty-four hours, fifteen during the day and fifteen during the night. Some muhurtas are auspicious, others are not, and Abhijit muhurta is the most auspicious of the fifteen muhurtas during the day. Literally, Abhijit is a muhurta that brings victory. Today, Abhijit muhurta, depending on the place, will be around noon.
762 Prahlada.
763 Narada.
764 As Nara, Daksha’s daughter being Murti.
765 There is no numbering in the text. We have numbered these for the sake of convenience.
766 This is service to Hari, the preceding one was service to creatures.
767 A dvija is a person born twice, the second birth usually referring to the upanayana ceremony. There are thirteen samskaras or sacraments. The list varies a bit. But one list is vivaha (marriage), garbhalambhana (conception), pumsavana (engendering a male child), simantonnayana (parting the hair, performed in the fourth month of pregnancy), jatakarma (birth rites), namakarana (naming), chudakarma (tonsure), annaprashana (first solid food), keshanta (first shaving of the head), upanayana (sacred thread), vidyarambha (commencement of studies), samavartana (graduation) and antyeshti (funeral rites). Thus, a dvija is not necessarily a brahmana.
768 Studying, teaching, sacrificing, officiating at sacrifices, receiving gifts and donating.
769 The other three varnas must not receive donations.
770 The other three varnas.
771 A king still can’t accept gifts.
772 That is, the husband has not committed a grave sin.
773 The father and the mother belong to different varnas.
774 Antyajas are those who belong to lower classes, such as chandalas. They live just outside habitations and have their own hereditary means of subsistence.
775 The varna of the signs, not the varna of birth.
776 Interpreted as the gayatri mantra.
777 The girdle is made out of munja grass.
778 Of brahmacharya.
779 This is a slight variation of Bhagavad Gita 2.60.
780 Such as between a man and a woman.
781 A householder may also take the vow of brahmacharya.
782 Vedanga means a branch of the Vedas and these are six kinds of learning that are essential to understand the Vedas—shiksha (phonetics), kalpa (rituals), vyakarana (grammar), nirukta (etymology), chhanda (metre) and jyotisha (astronomy). The Vedas have four parts—Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanishad. The Samhita and Brahmana sections are known as karma kanda, they prescribe rites and rituals. The Aranyaka and Upanishad sections are known as jnana kanda, they are the paths of knowledge.
783 The dakshina after the completion of studies.
784 In the vanaprastha stage.
785 Kept as a store.
786 He becomes a sannyasi.
787 He will merge his body (the aggregate) into the constituent five elements (the causes).
788 Solid components like flesh, muscles and bones.
789 That is, Varuna.
790 Brahma.
791 The text uses ‘the unmanifest’ for Prakriti.
792 The paramatman.
793 That is, he gives up his life.
794 Of becoming a sannyasi.
795 Like a kamandalu or water pot.
796 Any straitjacketed rules.
797 The sage’s name wasn’t Ajagara. From the third chapter of the First Skandha, we can deduce that this was Dattatreya. Ajagara (python) describes the sage’s conduct. A python lies down on the ground, waiting for food to come, and does not make any efforts.
798 Sahyadri.
799 Like the senses and the mind, ego and intelligence.
800 Relating to adhidaivika (destiny), adhibhoutika (nature) and adhyatmika (one’s own nature).
801 Just as the bee is killed when the honey is collected.
802 I am naked.
803 Between categories and people.
804 Hence, I have explained it to you.
805 Interpreted as—after performing the tasks of a householder.
806 Rain descends from heaven, resulting in crops that yield wealth. Ores and minerals also produce wealth and originate in the earth. The firmament is a reference to wealth that results from chance.
807 Dharma, artha and kama.
808 One must be careful in not misinterpreting this and taking it out of context, the idea being that one reduces attachment to the wife.
809 As mentioned earlier, depending on how the body is disposed of after death.
810 This is a reference to the five sacrifices recommended for householders. The five great sacrifices are brahma-yajna (sacrificing to the sages), pitri-yajna (offering oblations to ancestors), deva-yajna (offering oblations to gods), nri-yajna (offering food and shelter to humans/guests) and bhuta-yajna (offering food and shelter to non-human species).
811 Proshthapada is a nakshatra. More accurately, it is a collective name for two nakshatras, Purva Bhadrapada and Uttara Bhadrapada. This therefore means the month of Bhadra (August–September) and the rite takes place on the day of Mahalaya.
812 The two famous sankrantis.
813 Vyatipata is an inauspicious period that lasts for almost twenty-four hours during every lunar month.
814 This is not the third lunar day in any shukla paksha, but specifically that in the month of Vaishakha, known as akshaya tritiya.
815 During shukla paksha, known as akshaya navami.
816 The cold season is hemanta, between autumn and winter. Winter proper is shishira. Hemanta is the months of Margashirsha (also known as Agrahayana) and Pousha. Margashirsha is roughly mid-November to mid-December, while Pousha is mid-December to mid-January. Shishira is the months of Magha (mid-January to mid-February) and Phalguna (mid-February to mid-March). Ashtaka is the eighth lunar day, but during krishna paksha.
817 Such as Krittika in the ascendant in the month of Kartika.
818 Uttara Phalguni, Uttara Bhadrapada and Uttarashadha.
819 The three Uttara nakshatras.
820 Donations to men and creatures in the name of ancestors and gods.
821 The worthy recipient.
822 Gaya.
823 Where the river Phalgu flows.
824 Setubandha, where Rama constructed the bridge, Rameshvara.
825 Dvaraka.
826 Mathura.
827 Badarikashrama.
828 Where the river Alakananda flows.
829 Chitrakuta.
830 At Yudhishthira’s royal sacrifice.
831 Implying this wasn’t necessary in satya yuga.
832 That is, they internalize the symbolism of sacrifices and give up the external rituals.
833 Such as animals.
834 Alternatively, recommended for a different varna.
835 Thus, chhala is apparent, but not real conformity with dharma. Upadharma is the same as upama.
836 Such as a dog.
837 Such as revenge.
838 It is useless, because the elephant immediately becomes dirty again.
839 Krishna.
840 The six vices, kama (desire), krodha (anger), lobha (avarice), moha (delusion), mada (pride) and matsarya (jealousy). Alternatively, the five senses and the mind.
841 Prana draws breath into the body, apana exhales it. Vyana distributes it through the body and samana assimilates it. Udana gives rise to sound. Ayama means control or restraint, so pranayama is control of the breath of life. Pranayama has three components—puraka, rechaka and kumbhaka. Puraka is when the inhaled apana air fills up the exhaled prana air and temporarily stops its exit. Rechaka is when the exhaled prana air stops the entry of the inhaled apana air. Kumbhaka is when prana and apana are both controlled and the air is restrained inside the body.
842 One in vanaprastha.
843 One in sannyasa.
844 Other than prana, apana, vyana, samana and udana, the other five components of the breath of life are naga, kurma, krikala, devadatta and dhananjaya. These five are sub-breaths of life, so to speak, and are respectively burping, blinking, sneezing, yawning and opening/closing of the valves in the hearts.
845 Give up the body.
846 Both ishta and purta are types of sacrifices and are instances of pravritti karma. Distribution of things required to sustain life means the distribution of food and drink. Agnihotra is a sacrifice where oblations are offered to the fire (every day), darsha is performed on the day of the new moon, purnamasa (or paurnimasya) is performed on the day of the full moon, chaturmasya is performed at the beginning of every four-month period, pashu involves the sacrifice of animals, suta is a soma sacrifice, huta is the symbolic offering of oblations to Vishvadevas before taking meals and prahuta is the symbolic offering of oblations to household divinities, humans and other creatures before taking meals.
847 These shlokas are difficult to understand and have been interpreted in different ways. One possible interpretation is the following. Pitri yana is the path of the ancestors. For a person who performs such sacrifices, the linga sharira, after death, follows the path of the ancestors, escorted by divinities associated with smoke, night, krishna paksha, dakshinayana and soma. Having gone to Yama’s world, it is born again, moving up the food chain.
848 The alphabet.
849 Omkara is the concise form of the sound ‘Oum’, Bindu is the centre of the forehead, Nada is the vibration of the sound and Prana is the breath of life.
850 Following the earlier progression, this is the path of deva yana, the path of the gods. Vishva is when the jivatman is identified with gross elements, taijasa is identification with subtle elements and prajna is when the difference between cause and effect ceases.
851 The body.
852 These shlokas are also difficult to understand and have been interpreted in different ways.
853 They are unreal.
854 Striving for the turiya state.
855 Monism, non-duality.
856 Krishna.
857 The Prajapatis.
858 Intoxicated, Narada sung inappropriate songs and was cursed by the Prajapatis.
859 Brahma.