FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: The rival heresies seem also to belong to the East. There were thus more than half a dozen heretical bodies of importance agitating the region about Benares at the same time. Subsequently the Jains, who, as we have shown, were less estranged from Brahmanism, drifted westward, while the Buddhist stronghold remained in the East (both, of course, being represented in the South as well), and so, whereas Buddhism eventually retreated to Nep[=a]l and Tibet, the Jains are found in the very centres of old and new (sectarian) Brahmanism, Delhi, Mathur[=a], Jeypur, [=A]jm[=i]r.]
[Footnote 2: 'The wandering of R[=a]ma,' who is the sectarian representative of Vishnu.]
[Footnote 3: The 'Bh[=a]rata (tale)', sometimes called Mah[=a]-Bh[=a]rata, or Great Bh[=a]rata. The Vishnuite sectarianism here advocated is that of Krishna. But there is as much Çivaism in the poem as there is Vishnuism.]
[Footnote 4: Dramatic and lyric poetry is artificial even in language.]
[Footnote 5: Schroeder, p. 453, compares the mutual relation of the Mah[=a]bh[=a]rata and R[=a]m[=a]yana to that of the Nibelungenlied and the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach. Jacobi, in his 'R[=a]m[=a]yana,' has lately claimed a considerable antiquity for the foundation legends of the R[=a]m[=a]yana, but he does not disprove the late completed form.]
[Footnote 6: i. 78. 10; see Bühler's Introduction.]
[Footnote 7: Jacobi seeks to put the completed nucleus at the time of the Christian era, but it must have been quite a large nucleus in view of the allusions to it in precedent literature. Holtztmann puts the completion at about 1000 A.D.; but in 700 A.D., it was complete, and most scholars will agree with Bühler that the present Mah[=a]-Bh[=a]rata was completed by the sixth or seventh century. In 533 A.D. it contained 100,000 distichs, that is, it was about the size it is now.]
[Footnote 8: By the time the drama began the epic was become a religious storehouse, and the actual epic story represented not a fifth of the whole work, so that, with its simple language, it must have seemed, as a literary production, very wearisome to the minds that delighted in the artificial compounds and romantic episodes of the drama and lyric. But even to-day it is recited at great fêtes, and listened to with rapt attention, as the rhapsodes with more or less dramatic power recite its holy verses.]
[Footnote 9: The later law-books say expressly that women and slaves have a right to use mantra, mantr[=a]dhik[=a]ri[n.]as. But the later legal Smritis are no more than disguised sectarian Pur[=a]nas.]
[Footnote 10: Compare the visit of the old Muni on the prince in iii. 262. 8. He is paramakopana, 'extremely irritable'; calls for food only to reject it; growls at the service, etc. Everything must be done 'quickly' for him. "I am hungry, give me food, quick," is his way of speaking, etc. (12). The adjective is one applied to the All-gods, paramakrodhinas.]
[Footnote 11: Each spiritual teacher instructed high-caste boys, in classes of four or five at most. In xii. 328. 41 the four students of a priest go on a strike because the latter wants to take another pupil besides themselves and his own son.]
[Footnote 12: The saints in the sky praise the combatants (vii. 188. 41; viii. 15. 27); and the gods roar approval of prowess "with roars like a lion's" (viii. 15. 33). Indra and S[=u]rya and the Apsarasas cool off the heroes with heavenly fans (ib. 90. 18). For the last divinities, see Holtzmann's essays, ZDMG. xxxii. 290; xxxiii. 631.]
[Footnote 13: The original author of the Mah[=a]bh[=a]rata is reputed to be of low caste, but the writers of the text as it is to-day were sectarian priests. It was written down, it is said, by Ganeça, 'lord of the troops' of Çiva, i. 1. 79, and some historic truth lies in the tale. The priests of Çiva were the last to retouch the poem, as we think.]
[Footnote 14: Agni-worship is partly affected by the doctrine that the Samvartaka fire (which destroys the world at the cycle's end) is a form of Vishnu. In Stambamitra's hymn it is said: "Thou, O Agni, art the all, in thee rests the universe … Sages know thee as single yet manifold. At the expiration of time thou burnest up the three worlds, after having created them. Thou art the originator and support of all beings" (i. 232. 12). Elsewhere more Vedic epithets are given, such as 'mouth of the gods' (ii. 31. 42), though here 'the Vedas are produced for Agni's sake.' In this same prayer one reads, 'may Agni give me energy; wind, give me breath; earth, give me strength; and water, give me health' (45). Agni, as well as Çiva, is the father of Kum[=a]ra K[=a]rtikeya, i.e., Skanda (ib. 44).]
[Footnote 15: But the Açvins are Ç[=u]dras In the 'cast-hood of gods' (the caste-order being Angirasas, [=A]dityas, Maruts and AÇvins), xii. 208. 23-25; and Indra in one passage refuses to associate with them, xiii. 157. 17 (cited by Holtzmann, ZDMG. xxxii. 321).]
[Footnote 16: Manibhadra, in iii. 64, is king of Yaksash; he
is the same with Kubera, ib. ch. 41 (V[=a]içinavana).]
[Footnote 17: In the Cosmogony the gods are the sons of the
Manes, xii. 312. 9.]
[Footnote 18: When the gods churn the ocean to get ambrosia,
an ancient tale of the epic, Mandara is the twirling-stick.
It is situated in modern Beh[=a]r, near Bhagalpur.]
[Footnote 19: III. 42; 139. 14, where the Ganges and Jumna are invoked together with the Vedic gods. So in III. 104 (Vindhya); and Damayanti prays to mountains. Mt. Meru is described in III. 163. 14 (compare I. 17. 5 ff.). In I. 18. 1 ff., is related the churning of the ocean, where Indra (vs. 12) places Mt. Mandara on Vishnu, the tortoise.]
[Footnote 20: Mbh. I. 30. 37, mamlur m[=a]ly[=a]ni dev[=a]n[=a]m, etc. The older belief was that the gods' garlands never withered; for the gods show no mortal signs, cast no shadows, etc.]
[Footnote 21: Compare the four hymnlets to Agni in i. 232. 7 ff.]
[Footnote 22: After the mention of the thirty-three gods, and Vishnu 'born after them,' it is said that the Açvins, plants, and animals, are Guhyakas (vs. 40), though in vs. 35: "Tvashtar's daughter, the wife of Savitar, as a mare (va[d.]av[=a]) bore in air the two Açvins" (see above), in Vedic style. For Çruti compare iii. 207. 47; 208. 6, 11.]
[Footnote 23: i. 23. 15 ff. His name is explained fancifully
in 30. 7.]
[Footnote 24: It is at the funeral feasts to the Manes that
the Mah[=a]bh[=a]rata is to be recited (i. 62. 37).]
[Footnote 25: Arjuna is an old name of Indra, and in the
epic Arjuna is Indra's son.]
[Footnote 26: The legal dharma or sitting at a debtor's
door, which still obtains in India, is, so far as we know,
not a very ancient practice. But its application in the case
of heralds (who become responsible) is epic.]
[Footnote 27: This is the covenant (with friends) of revenge; the covenant of mutual protection in the sacrifice is indicated by the 'protection covenant' of the gods (see the chapter on Brahmanism above, p. 192).]
[Footnote 28: See an essay on the Ruling Caste in the epic, in JAOS. xiii. 232 ff.]
[Footnote 29: Reverend Doctor H.C. Trumbull has kindly called our attention to Robert's Oriental Illustrations, p. 148 ff., where it is said that in India today the threshold is sacred. In reference to threshold offerings, common in the law, Dr. Trumbull's own forthcoming book on Covenants may be compared.]
[Footnote 30: But these are by no means the last examples of human sacrifices. Several of the modern Hindu sects have caused to be performed such sacrifices, even in this century.]
[Footnote 31: This can hardly mean 'put out on the river' as has been suggested as an explanation of the corpse 'thrown aside' in accordance with the earlier text, AV. xviii. 2. 34 (paropta), where the dead are 'buried, thrown aside, burned, or set out.']
[Footnote 32: It is assumed in XII. 364. 2 that "leaves and air" are food enough for a great saint. Compare below the actual asceticism of modern devotees.]
[Footnote 33: III. 25. 14: saptar[s.]ayas … divi viprabh[=a]nti. Compare ib. 261. 13, and the apocalypse in VII. 192. 52 ff., where Drona's soul ascends to heaven, a burning fire like a sun; In sharp contrast to the older 'thumbkin' soul which Yama receives and carries off in the tale of Satyavant. Compare also Arundhati in I. 233. 29.]
[Footnote 34: Described, as above, as a place of singers and dancers, where are the Vedic gods and sages, but no sinners or cowards (III. 42. 34 ff.).]
[Footnote 35: From another point of view the stars are of interest. They are favorable or unfavorable, sentient, kind, or cruel; influential in man's fate. Compare III. 200. 84, 85, where the sun is included with the grahas (planets) which influence men, and ib. 209. 21, tulyanak[.s]atrama[.n]gala.]
[Footnote 36: Other of Indra's spirits are the singers, Gandharvas and Apsarasas; also the horse-headed Kinnaras and C[=a]ranas, who, too, are singers; while later the Vidy[=a]dharas belong both to Indra and to Çiva. In modern times the South Indian Sittars, 'saints,' take their name from the Siddhas.]
[Footnote 37: In d[=a]nnavar[s.]i there is apparently the same sort of compound as in devar[s.]i and brahmar[s.]i, all associated with the siddhas in III. 169. 23. But possibly 'demons and seers' may be meant.]
[Footnote 38: III. 37. 32-35 (prapadye viçvedev[=a]n!).]
[Footnote 39: Weber finds in the Asuras' artisan, Asura Maya, a reminiscence of Ptolemaios. He is celebrated in I. 228. 39, and II. 1, and is the generai leader of the d[=a]navas, demons, perhaps originally a folk-name of enemies.]
[Footnote 40: See below. The formal division is, d[=a]iva, hatha, karma, i.e., man's fate depends on gods, Fate, and his own acts; although hatha, Fate, is often implied in d[=a]iva, 'the divine power.' But they are separated, for example, in iii. 183. 86.]
[Footnote 41: Compare the tales and xii. 148. 9, sat[=i] (suttee). In regard to the horse-sacrifice, compare Yama's law as expounded to Gautama: "The acts by which one gains bliss hereafter are austerities, purity, truth, worship of parents, and the horse-sacrifice." xii 129. 9, 10.]
[Footnote 42: Compare III. 200. 88, even pr[=a]k[r.]ta priests are divine and terrible (much more in later books). Here pr[=a]k[r.]ta, vulgar, is opposed to samsk[r.]ta, refined, priests.]
[Footnote 43: III. 185. 26-31.]
[Footnote 44: "My father and mother are my highest idol; I do for them what I do for Idols. As the three and thirty gods, with Indra foremost, are revered of all the world, so are my parents revered by me" (III. 214. 19, 20). The speaker further calls them paramam brahma, absolute godhead, and explains his first remark by saying that he offers fruits and flowers to his parents as if they were idols. In IV. 68. 57 a man salutes (abhivadya) his father's feet on entering into his presence. For the worship of parents compare XII. 108. 3; 128. 9, 10; 267. 31, XIII. 75. 26: "heroes in obedience to the mother.">[
[Footnote 45: The marked Brahm[=a] Creator-worship is a bit
of feminine religious conservatism (see below).]
[Footnote 46: Weber has shown that men of low caste took a
subordinate part even in the r[=a]jas[=u]ya sacrifice.]
[Footnote 47: In II. 18. there is a brand-new festival
appointed in honor of a female fiend, etc.]
[Footnote 48: III. 84. 83 (87. 11). We see the first idea in
the injunction of Indra to 'wander,' as told in the tale of
Dogstail in the Brahmana (see above).]
[Footnote 49: The usual formula (also Avestan) is 'pure in
thought, speech, and act.' The comparison of the six senses
to unrestrained wild horses is familiar (III. 211. 24).]
[Footnote 50: There is, further, no unanimity in regard to
the comparative value of holy places. In XII. 152. 11,
Sarasvat[=i] is holier than Kurukshetra, etc.]
[Footnote 51: At Pushkara is Brahm[=a]'s only (?)
shrine—the account is legendary, but half historical. The
modern shrine at Ajm[=i]r seems to be meant.]
[Footnote 52: Ganges, according to epic legend, was a goddess who sacrificed herself for men when the earth was parched and men perished. Then Ganges alone of immortals took pity on men, and flinging herself from heaven became the stream divine. Her name among the gods is Alakanand[=a], the 'Blessed Damosel.']
[Footnote 53: In iii. 87.10, "ten descendants and ten ancestors." The epic, i. 170. 19, regards the Sarasvat[=i] and Jumna as parts of the sevenfold Ganges, which descends from the heavens as these three, and also as the Vitasth[=a] (Rathasth[=a]), Saray[=u], Gomat[=i], and Gan[d.]ak[=i]; being itself 'V[=a]itara[n.][=i] among the Manes.' So xii. 322. 32.]
[Footnote 54: According to the commentator the "(northern altar of the Father-god) Kurukshetra-Samantapañcakam, between Tarantuka, Arantuka, R[=a]mahrada, and Macakruka," mentioned in iii. 83. 208, lies in Benares; but this must be a late addition, as Kurukshetra's position is without doubt. Compare i. 2. i ff.; ix. 53. i, 23-25.]
[Footnote 55:
In ib. 47, mah[=a] d[r.]tiriv[=a]dhm[=a]ta[h.]
p[=a]pas, there is an interesting
reminiscence of Rig Veda, vii. 89. 2. The rules of virtue
are contained in Vedas and law-books, and the practice of
instructed men, ib. 83 (the 'threefold sign of
righteousness'). A Çruti cited from dharmas is not
uncommon, but the latter word is not properly used in so
wide a sense. See note below, p. 378.]
[Footnote 56: Some scholars see in the use of the verb, piç, a Vedic picturing of gods; but in all instances where this occurs it may be only the poet's mind-picture of the god 'adorned' with various glories.]
[Footnote 57: In VII. 201. 69, Çiva wears an aksham[=a]l[=a]. In XII. 38. 23, the C[=a]rv[=a]ka wears an aksha, for he is disguised as a bhikshu, beggar.]
[Footnote 58: It must be remembered that the person using the mantra probably did not understand what the words meant. The epic says, in fact, that the Vedas are unintelligible: brahma pracuracchalam, XII. 329. 6. But an older generation thought the same. In Nirukta, I. 15, K[=a]utsa is cited as saying that the mantras are meaningless.]
[Footnote 59: Compare xii. 174. 46: "The joy of earth and heaven obtained by the satisfaction of desire is not worth one-sixteenth of the bliss of dead desire.">[
[Footnote 60: By generosity the Hindu poet means 'to priests.' In III. 200, where this is elaborated, sixteen persons are mentioned (vs. 4) to whom to give is not meritorious.]
[Footnote 61: Little is known in regard to the play. The dice are thrown on a board, 'odd and even' determine the contest here (III. 34. 5) ayuja and yuja. At times speed in counting is the way to win (Nala). Dicing is a regular part of the r[=a]jas[=u]ya sacrifice (Weber, p. 67), but not, apparently, an ancient trait.]
[Footnote 62: The snakes belong to Varuna and his region, as described in v. 98. It is on the head of the earth-upholding snake Çesha that Vishnu muses, III. 203.12. The reverence paid to serpents begins to be ritual in the Atharva Veda. Even in the Rig Veda there is the deification of the cloud-snake. In later times they answered to the Nymphs, being tutelary guardians of streams and rivers (Buhler). In i. 36, Çesha Ananta supports earth, and it is told why he does so.]
[Footnote 63: These three are the witnesses for the soul at the judgment, xii. 322. 55. V[=a]yu, Wind, is said to be even mightier than Indra, Yama, Indra and Varuna, ib. 155. 9, 10.]
[Footnote 64: But (in a later account) not if he dies ignobly; for if one is slain by a man of low caste he goes to hell, xii. 298. 7.]
[Footnote 65: Demoniac Indras (i.e., demon-leaders) and seers, xii. 166. 26.]
[Footnote 66: 'The god of gods,' who rains blood in i. 30. 36, is declared by the commentator to be—Parjanya! The gods are here defending Soma from the heavenly bird, Garuda, and nearly die of fright.]
[Footnote 67: xii. 313. 1-7, with the same watery finale as is usual.]
[Footnote 68: The morning prayer, etc, to the sun is, of course, still observed, e.g., vii. 186. 4. Indra is thanked for victory and invoked for rain (iii. 117. 11; i. 25. 7; Holtzmann, loc. cit. p. 326) in an hymn that is less fulsome than those to Agni and S[=u]rya.]
[Footnote 69: 111. 222, Atharvan's rediscovery of fire. As to Çrutis they are probably no more valuable than Smritis. The one given in iii. 208. 11, agnayo in[=a]i[.n]sak[=a]m[=a]s, seems to be adapted (cf. [=A]çv. Gs. iv. 1; the adjective, by the way, is still starred in Pw.). So [=A]çv. Gs. i. 15. 9, is repeated Mbh[=a]; i. 74. 63, as a "Vedic mantragr[=a]ma " (ang[=a]d ang[=a]t sambhavasi, etc.).]
[Footnote 70: The devils are on the Prince's side, and wish to keep him from death. The proverb is found ib. 252. 2; [=a]tmaty[=a]g[=i] hy adho y[=a]ti. The holy-grass is used in much the same way when R[=a]ma lies down by Ocean, resolved to die or persuade Ocean to aid him. The rites (vs. 24) are "in the Upanishad.">[
[Footnote 71: According to XII. 59. 80-84, the 'treatise of
Brihaspati' comes from Çiva through Brahm[=a] and Indra.]
[Footnote 72: In Buddhism Yama's messengers are Yakkhas.
Scherman, loc. cit. p. 57.]
[Footnote 73: Compare II. 22. 26: gaccha yamak[s.]ayam, 'go to Yama's destruction'; whereas of a good man it is said, 'I will send Indra a guest' (VII, 27.8).]
[Footnote 74: Yamasya sadana. III. 11. 66. He now has hells, and he it is who will destroy the world. He is called 'the beautiful' (III. 41. 9), so that he must, if one take this Rudrian epithet with the citation above, be loosely (popularly) identified with Çiva, as god of death. See the second note below.]
[Footnote 75: The old story of a mortal's visit to Yama to learn about life hereafter (Çat. Br. xi. 6.1; Katha Up., of N[=a]ciketas) is repeated in xiii. 71.]
[Footnote 76: v. 42. 6: Çiva[h.] çiv[=a]n[=a]m açivo 'çiv[=a]n[=a]m (compare xii 187. 27: 'only fools say that the man is dead'). Dharma (Justice) seems at times to be the same with Yama. M[=a]ndavya goes to Dharma's sadana, home (compare Yama's sadana), just as one goes to Yama's, and interviews him on the justice of his judgments. As result of the angry interview the god is reborn on earth as a man of low caste, and the law is established that a child is not morally responsible for his acts till the twelfth year of his age (i.108. 8 ff.). When Kuru agrees to give half his life in order to the restoration of Pramadvar[=a], his wife, they go not to Yama but to Dharma to see if the exchange may be made, and he agrees (i. 9. 11 ff., a masculine S[=a]vitr[=i]i).]
[Footnote 77: The hells are described in xii. 322. 29 ff.
The sight of 'golden trees' presages death (ib. 44).]
[Footnote 78: The ordinary rule is that "no sin is greater than untruth," xii. 162. 24, modified by "save in love and danger of life" (Laws, passim).]
[Footnote 79: The same scenes occur in Buddhistic writings, where Yakkhas ask conundrums. For example, in the Hemavatasutta and [=A]tavakasutta the Yakkha asks what is the best possession, what brings bliss, and what is swettest, to which the answer is: faith, law, and truth, respectively.]
[Footnote 80: Karm[=a]ntaram up[=a]santas, i.e., vir[=a]mak[=a]lam upagacchantas.]
[Footnote 81: II. 36. 3 ff. The phraseology of vs. 5 is exactly that of [Greek: ton êttô ldgon kreittô poithnsi], but the Pundit's arguments are 'based on the law.']
[Footnote 82: See above. In a later period (see below) the question arises in regard to the part played by Creator and individual in the workings of grace, some claiming that man was passive; some, that he had to strive for grace.]
[Footnote 83: Perhaps ironical. In V. 175. 32, a woman cries out: "Fie on the Creator for this bad luck," conservative in belief, and outspoken in word.]
[Footnote 84: III. 30. 17. The gosava is a 'cow-sacrifice.' The pu[n.][d.]ar[=i]ka is not explained (perhaps 'elephant-sacrifice').]
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