21. The first word is compounded of an and astika.
22. Deva-yana is the Yana or way along which the deities have gone, the strict observance of the Vedic rites.
23. Renouncer of his own self, because he dries up his very body by denying himself food.
24. Such a person also is not a true renouncer. For a Kshatriya, again, such a mode of life would be sinful.
25. Nilakantha thinks that the object of this verse is to show that even such a life properly appertains to a Brahmana and not to a Kshatriya. Therefore, if Yudhishthira would, without reigning, live quietly in the kingdom governed by some brother of his, he would then be equally sinning.
26. Acts done from vanity, i.e., with the bragging consciousness of one being himself the actor and the arranger of everything. Acts done from a spirit of renunciation, i.e., without hope of reaping their fruits.
27. The threefold aims, i.e., Religion, Pleasure and Profit.
28. Antarala is thus explained by Nilakantha.
29. Sariram is contra-distinguished from Vahyam. The first is explained as appertaining to or encased in Sarira, i.e., the mind.
30. What Sahadeva wishes to say is that everything proceeds from selfishness is productive of death, while everything proceeding from an opposite frame of mind leads to Brahma or immortality.