367. Jataharamadisat may also mean ‘ordered the removal of his matted locks’–in other words, ‘had a shame.’
368. i.e., to acknowledge thee as a tutor.
369. The sense is that inasmuch as the Grandsire, who was the governor of the universe, assumed the mild and peaceful aspect of a sacrificer, Chastisement which had dwelt in his furious form could no longer exist.
370. Though Sula is mentioned, yet it is Vishnu and not Mahadeva, that is implied. Generally the word means any weapon.
371. The whole account contains more than one inconsistency. The commentator is silent. I think the inconsistencies are incapable of being explained. It is very probable that there have been interpolations in the passage. Verse 34 is probably an interpolation, as also verse 36.
372. i.e., Self-denial or discipline.
373. I have not the faintest idea of what is intended by these verses, viz., 43 and 51. Nilakantha is silent. It is very doubtful if they have really any meaning.
374. The commentator illustrates this by the action of a virtuous husband seeking congress with his wedded wife in the proper season. There is religious merit in the performance of the rites known by the name of Garbhadhana; there is pleasure in the act itself; and lastly, wealth or profit in the form of a son is also acquired.
375. There are three qualities or attributes that characterise human acts, viz., Goodness, Passion, and Darkness. Vide the latter sections of the Bhagavadgita. Such Virtue and Wealth and Pleasure, therefore, are not very high objects of pursuit. Things possessing the, attribute of Goodness only are worthy of pursuit.
376. i.e., one should seek virtue for only compassing purity of soul; Wealth in order that one may spend it in acts undertaken without desire of fruit; and Pleasure for only supporting the body.
377. Dharmadinkamanaishthikan, i.e., having Dharma for the first and Karna for the last, hence Virtue, Wealth and Pleasure.
378. Pisitaudanam is food mixed with pounded meat; a kind of Pilau, or, perhaps, Kabab.
379. Vagagravidyanam is explained by Nilakantha to mean persons whose learning is at the end of their tongues and not buried in books; hence, persons of sharp memory.
380. The asker wishes to rob Prahlada of his conduct.
381. This lake is at a great height on the Himalayas.
382. The spirits of those two immortal sages are supposed to dwell for ever, in that retreat in the enjoyment of true happiness.
383. i.e., Hope is slender; while things unconnected with Hope are the reverse.
384. The sense is that such persons should always be distrusted. Yet there are men who hope for good from them. Such hope, the sage says, is slenderer than his slender body.
385. The word maya repeated in verses 14 to 18 is explained by Nilakantha as having the sense of mattah. The meaning, of course, is very plain. Yet the Burdwan translator has strangely misunderstood it. K.P. Singha, of course, gives an accurate version.
386. For the king’s disregard of the sage in former days.
387. The distress, which Yudhishthira felt at the thought of the slaughter in battle.
388. i.e., this is not a subject upon which one can or should discourse before miscellaneous audiences.
389. i.e., by ingenious contrivances a king may succeed in filling his
treasury, or his best ingenuity and calculations may fail.
390. i.e., with a pure heart.
391. i.e., when the season of distress is over.
392. i.e., under ordinary situations of circumstances.
393. i.e., he should perform expiations and do good to them whom he has injured, so that these may not remain discontented with him.
394. He should not seek to rescue the merit of other or of himself, i.e., he should not, at such times, refrain from any act that may injure his own merit or that of others; in other words, he may disregard all considerations about the religious merits of others and of himself His Sole concern at such a time should be to save himself, that is, his life.
395. Sankhalikhitam, i.e., that which is written on the forehead by the Ordainer.
396. Literally, “cause to be removed.”
397. The army and the criminal courts.
398. The commentator explains it in the following way. The ordinary texts, without exceptions of any kind, laid down for seasons of distress, permit a king to fill his treasury by levying heavy contributions on both his own subjects and those of hostile kingdoms. An ordinary king, at such a time, acts in this way. A king, however, that is endued with intelligence, while levying such contributions, takes care to levy them upon those that are wicked and punishable among his own subjects and among the subjects of other kingdoms, and refrains from molesting the good. Compare the conduct of Warren Hastings in exacting a heavy tribute, when his own treasury was empty, from Cheyt Singh, whose unfriendliness for the British power was a matter of notoriety.
399. The sense seems to be that there are persons who hold that priests and Brahmanas should never be punished or taxed. This is the eternal usage, and, therefore, this is morality. Others who approve of the conduct of Sankha towards his brother Likhita on the occasion of the latter’s appropriating a few fruits belonging to the former, are of a different opinion. The latter class of persons Bhishma says, are as sincere as the former in their opinion. They cannot be blamed for holding that even priests and Brahmanas may be punished when offending.
400. Duty depending on all the four foundations, i.e., as laid down in the Vedas; as laid down in the Smritis; as sanctioned by ancient usages and customs; and as approved by the heart or one’s own conscience.
401. i.e., yield with ease.
402. Grammatically, the last line may mean,–‘The very robbers dread a king destitute of compassion.’
403. Their wives and children ought to be saved, and their habitations and wearing apparel and domestic utensils, etc., should not be destroyed.
404. i.e., ‘he that has wealth and forces.’
405. The sense seems to be that a poor man can have only a little of all earthly things. That little, however, is like the remnant of a strong man’s dinner.
