FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: He appears in different complete manifestations, while Vishnu appears only in part, as a 'descent,' avatar, i.e., Vishnu is incarnate, Çiva appears whole.]
[Footnote 2: The original story perhaps antedates the Brahmanic Brahm[=a]. But, for all one knows, when the poem was first written Brahm[=a] was already decadent as chief god. In that case two strata of religious belief have been formally super-imposed, Vishnuism and Çivaism.]
[Footnote 3: While agreeing with Telang that the original G[=i]t[=a] is an old poem, we cannot subscribe to his argument (SBE. VIII. p. 19) that the priority of the S[=a]man over the Rig Veda is evidence of antiquity; still less to the argument, p. 21, from the castes.]
[Footnote 4: Compare Manu, i. 7: "He the subtile, indiscernible, eternal, inconceivable One, who makes all creatures.">[
[Footnote 5: Possibly the original opening of another poem.]
[Footnote 6: The avatars of Vishnu are meant. The very knight to whom he speaks is later regarded (in South India) as incarnate god, and today is worshipped as an avatar of Vishnu. The idea of the 'birth-stories' of the Buddhists is thought by some scholars to have been connected historically with the avatars of Vishnu.]
[Footnote 7: This is one of the notes struck in the later Upanishads, the doctrine of 'special grace,' originating perhaps still earlier in the V[=a]c hymn (see above).]
[Footnote 8: That is, one that also has no desires may act (without desiring the fruit of action.)]
[Footnote 9: This is a S[=a]nkhya division.]
[Footnote 10: This cleverly contrived or profound universality of Vishnuism is one of the greatest obstacles to missionary effort. The Vishnuite will accept Christ, but as a form of Vishnu, as here explained. Compare below: "Even they that sacrifice to other gods really sacrifice to Me.">[
[Footnote 11: Prakriti (prak[r.]t[=i]), nature; the term belongs to the S[=a]nkhya philosophy, which recognizes nature as distinct from spirit, a duality, opposed to adv[=a]ita, the non-duality of the Ved[=a]nta system, where the S[=a]nkhya 'nature' is represented by m[=a]y[=a], 'illusion.' Otherwise the word Prakrit is the 'natural,' vulgar dialect, opposed to Sanskrit, the refined, 'put-together' language.]
[Footnote 12: Saints, literally 'the successful ones.']
[Footnote 13: Alluding to the later derivation of Yama from
yam, control.]
[Footnote 14: "The letter A," as in the Upanishads (see
above, p. 226).]
[Footnote 15: Compare a parallel list of diadochoi in xii.
349. 51.]
[Footnote 16: One of the Jaina traits of the epic, brahm[=a]di[s.]u t[r.]u[=a]nte[s.]u bh[=u]te[s.]u parivartate, in distinction from the Buddhistic metempsychosis, which stops short of plants. But perhaps it is rather borrowed from the B[.r]ahman by the Jain, for there is a formal acknowledgment that sth[=a]var[=a]s 'stationary things,' have part in metempsychosis, Manu, xii. 42, although in the distribution that follows this is almost ignored (vs. 58).]
[Footnote 17: It is rather difficult to compress the list into this number. Some of the names are perhaps later additions.]
[Footnote 18: In contrast one may note the frequent boast
that a king 'fears not even the gods,' e.g., i. 199. 1.]
[Footnote 19: Later there are twenty-one worlds analogous lo
the twenty-one hells.]
[Footnote 20: Elsewhere, oh the other hand, the islands are
four or seven, the earlier view.]
[Footnote 21: iii. 142. The boar-shape of Vishnu is a favorite one, as is the dwarf-incarnation. Compare V[=a]mana, V[=a]manaka, Vishnupada, in the list of holy watering-places (iii. 83). Many of Vishnu's acts are simply transferred from Brahm[=a], to whom they belonged in older tales. Compare above, p.215.]
[Footnote 22: In i. 197, Praj[=a]pati the Father-god, is the highest god, to whom Indra, as usual, runs for help. Çiva appears as a higher god, and drives Indra into a hole, where he sees five former Indras; and finally Vishnu comes on to the stage as the highest of all, "the infinite, inconceivable, eternal, the All in endless forms." Brahm[=a] is invoked now and then in a perfunctory way, but no one really expects him to do anything. He has done his work, made the castes, the sacrifice, and (occasionally) everything. And he will do this again when the new aeon begins. But for this aeon his work is accomplished.]
[Footnote 23: Thus in XII. 785. 165: "Neither Brahm[=a] nor
Vishnu is capable of understanding the greatness of Çiva.">[
[Footnote 24: Or "three eyes.">[
[Footnote 25: Compare III. 39. 77: "The destroyer of Daksha's sacrifice." Compare the same epithet in the hymn to Çiva, X. 7. 3, after which appear the devils who serve Çiva. Such devils, in the following, feast on the dead upon the field of battle, though, when left to themselves, 'midnight is the hour when the demons swarm,' III. 11. 4 and 33. In X. 18 and XIII. 161 Çiva's act is described in full.]
[Footnote 26: Çiva, called Bhava, Çarva, the trident-holder, the Lord ([=I]ç[=a]na), Çankara, the Great God, etc., generally appears at his best where the epic is at its worst, the interpolations being more flagrant than in the case of Vishnuite eulogies. The most devout worshipper of Vishnu is represented as an adherent of Çiva, as invoking him for help after fighting with him. He is "invincible before the three worlds." He is the sun; his blood is ashes. All the gods, with Brahm[=a] at their head, revere him. He has three heads, three faces, six arms (compare iii. 39. 74 ff.; 83. 125); though other passages give him more.]
[Footnote 27: Çiva has as sign the bull: Vishnu, the boar.]
[Footnote 28: ZDMG. xxxviii. pp. 197, 200.]
[Footnote 29: Lit. u. Cultur, p. 461.]
[Footnote 30: Holtzmann now says (in Neunzehn Bücher, p. 198) that the whole episode which terminates with Baladeva's visit an addition to the original. Holtzmann's monograph on Brahm[=a] is in ZDMG. xxxviii. 167.]
[Footnote 31: A good example is that of the two visions of
Arjuna, first the vision of Vishnu, then another vision of
Çiva, whom Arjuna and Vishnu visit (vii. 80).]
[Footnote 32: Çankara and Çiva mean almost the same; 'giver
of blessings' and 'prospering' (or 'kindly'), respectively.]
[Footnote 33: Brahma[n.]as sumahotsavas (compare the commentator). The sam[=a]ja of Brahm[=a] may be explained by that of Çiva mentioned in the same place and described elsewhere (iv. 13. 14 ff.; i. 164. 20).]
[Footnote 34: Not sleeping, Vishnu, despite svapimi, does not slumber; he only muses.]
[Footnote 35: Man (divine) and god human, but N[=a]r[=a]yana is a new name of Vishnu, and the two are reckoned as two inseparable seers (divinities).]
[Footnote 36: This is the only really trinitarian passage in the epic. In i. 1. 32; xiii. 16. 15, the belief may be indicated, but not certainly, as it is in Hariv. 10,662. See on this point Holtzroann, ZDMG. xxxviii. p. 204. In xiv. 54. 14 the form is V[=i]shnu, Brahm[=a], Indra.]
[Footnote 37: Compare 339. 114, "thou art pañcamah[=a]kalpa." The commentator gives the names of five sects, S[=a]ura, Ç[=a]kta, G[=a]neça, Ç[=a]iva, Vaishnava. The 'five times,' implied in Pañcak[=a]ta, he says are day, night, month, seasons, and year (ib. 66). In 340. 117 (which chapter is Pancar[=a]tric), Brahm[=a] "knows that Vishnu is superior.">[
[Footnote 38: V[=a]j. S. xvi. 1-66; T[=a]itt. S. iv. 5. 1-11.]
[Footnote 39: Çiva has no ordinary sacrifice: he is (as above) in general a destroyer of sacrifice, i.e., of Vedic sacrifice; but as Paçupati, "Lord of beasts," he claims the bloody sacrifice of the first beast, man.]
[Footnote 40: The usual opinion is that phallic worship was a trait of southern tribes foisted upon northern Çivaism. Philosophically Çivaism is first monotheistic and then pantheistic, To-day it is nominally pantheistic but really it is dualistic.]
[Footnote 41: There are indications in this passage of some sectarian feeling, and the fear of partisan warfare (229); in regard to which we add from Muir and Holtzmann the passage XII. 343. 121, where is symbolized a peaceful issue of war between Vishnuism and Çivaism.]
[Footnote 42: Grahas are also planets, but in this cult they are not astrological, as show their names.]
[Footnote 43: They are possibly old, as Weber thinks, but they seem to have nothing in common with the ancient female divinities.]
[Footnote 44: Compare another hymn to Durg[=a] in IV. 6. 5 ff. (late). Durgi was probably an independent local deity, subsequently regarded as Çiva's female side. She plays a great rôle, under various names, in the 'revived' literature, as do the love-god and Ganeça. In both hymns she is 'Vishnu's sister,' and in IV. 6 a 'pure virgin.']
[Footnote 45: One comparatively new god deserves a passing mention, Dharma's son, K[=a]ma, the (Grecian?) love-god, 'the mind-shaker,' 'the limbless one,' whose arrows are like those of Cupid (I. 66. 32; 171. 34; III. 46. 2). He is an adventitious addition to the epic. His later name of Ananga occurs in XII. 59. 91. In I. 71. 41 and 171. 40 he is Manmatha. The Atharvan god also has darts, III. 25, a mark of this latest Veda.]
[Footnote 46: Compare ii. 22. 18: "Great holiness, great glory, penance, death in battle, these are each respectively productive of heaven; the last alone is a sure cause.">[
[Footnote 47: This description and the sentiments are quite late. The same sort of heaven (without the philosophical bitterness, with which compare above, p. 229) is, however, found in other passages, somewhat augmented with nymphs and facile goddesses.]
[Footnote 48: This doctrine is supposed by some scholars to be due to outside influence, but the doubt is not substantiated, and even in the Rig Veda one passage appears to refer to it. Doubtless, however, the later expanded view, with its complicated reckonings, may have been touched by foreign influence.]
[Footnote 49: Na [=a]san s[=a]ma-[r.]g-yajur-varn[=a]s. In xii. 342. 8 the order is Rik-Yajus-Atharvan-S[=a]man. The habit of putting S[=a]man instead of Rik at the head of the Vedas is still kept in the late litany to Çiva, who is "the S[=a]man among the Vedas" meaning, of course, the first and best. In the same place, "Çiva is the Itih[=a]sa" epic (xiii. 14. 323; and ib. 17. 78, 91), for the epic outweighs all the Vedas in its own estimation.]
[Footnote 50: iii. 149. 14; 188. 22; 189. 32; probably with a recollection of the colors of the four castes, white, red, yellow, black. According to xii. 233. 32, there is no sacrifice in the Krita age, but, beginning with the Tret[=a] age, there is a general diffusion of sacrifice in the Dv[=a]para age. In another passage of the same book it is said that marriage laws arose in the Dv[=a]para age (207. 38 ff.).]
[Footnote 51: The teaching varies somewhat in the allotment of years. See Manu, I. 67.]
[Footnote 52: Weber thinks, on the other hand, that the parties represent respectively, Çiva and Vishuu worship, Ind. St. i. 206.]
[Footnote 53: This book also is closely in touch with the later Pur[=a]nas. For instance, Citragupta, Yama's secretary, is known only to the books of the pseudo-epic, the Vishnu Pur[=a]na, the Padma Pur[=a]na, etc.]
[Footnote 54: Neunzehn Bücher, p. 86.]
[Footnote 55: The epic does not care much for castes in some passages. In one such it is said that members of all castes become priests when they go across the Gomal, iii. 84. 48.]
[Footnote 56: xii. 319. 87 ff. (pr[=a]pya j[=n][=a]nam … ç[=u]dr[=a]d api); xii. 328. 49 (çr[=a]vayee caturo var[n.][=a]n). The epic regards itself as more than equivalent (adhikam) to the four Vedas, i. 1. 272.]
[Footnote 57: Some ascribe the sams[=a]ra doctrine to
Buddhistic influence—a thesis supported only by the fact
that this occurs in late Brahmanic passages and Upanishads.
But the assumption that Upanishads do not precede Buddha is
scarcely tenable. The Katha, according to Weber (Sits.
Berl. Ak. 1890, p. 930), is late (Christian!): according to
Oldenberg and Whitney, early (Buddha, p. 56; Proc. AOS.
May, 1886).]
[Footnote 58: xii. 295. 5-6.]
[Footnote 59: Noteworthy is the fact that parts of the
Çivaite thirteenth book seem to be most Buddhistic (ch. i.;
143. 48, etc.), and monotheistic (16. 12 ff.): though the
White Islanders are made Vishnuite in the twelfth. Compare
Holtzmann, ad. loc.]
[Footnote 60: Nirv[=a]na, loosely used; termini technici;
possibly the evils of the fourth age; the mention of
(Buddhist) temples, etc.]
[Footnote 61: On this point we agree neither with Weber, who regards the avatars as an imitation of the Incarnation (Ind. St. ii. p. 169), nor with Schroeder, who (Literatur und Cultur, p. 330) would derive the notion from the birth-stories of Buddha. In our opinion the avatar-theory is older than either and is often only an assimilation of outlying totem-gods to the Brahman's god, or as in the case of the flood-story the necessary belief that the 'fish' must have been the god of the race. Some of these avatars are Brahmanic, presumably pre-Buddhistic.]
[Footnote 62: Krishna's Geburtsfest (janm[=a][s.]tam[=i]), 1867.]
[Footnote 63: Since they do not appear till after the real epic we date them tentatively as arising after 600 A.D. Most of them are in still later Pur[=a]nas.]
[Footnote 64: Incidental rapport with the Greeks has been pointed out in other instances; the surang[=a], a mine, of the late tale in i. 148. 12, etc (Ind. St. ii. p. 395), has been equated with syrinx; Skanda with Alexander, etc. It is needless to say that each of these is only a guess in etymology. But Greek influence is perceptible in the Greek soldiers and names of (Greek) kings that are found in the epic.]
[Footnote 65: Ind. St. i. 423; ii. 169. Weber believes that little is native to India which resembles Christianity in the way of theology; lore of God, special grace, monotheism, all to him are stolen. We regret that we must disagree with him in these instances.]
[Footnote 66: Ekata, Dvita, Trita. A Dvita appears as early as the Rig Veda. Ekata is an analogous formation and is old also.]
[Footnote 67: Hrish[=i]keça is 'lord of senses,' a common epithet of Vishnu (Krishna).]
[Footnote 68: i. 107. 1 ff. The spirits of the dead come to him and comfort him in the shape of birds—an old trait, compare B[=a]udh. Dh. Ç[=a]st. ii. 8. 14. 10; Çat. Br. vi. 1. 1. 2.]
[Footnote 69: xii. 300. 20.]
* * * * *