[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.]