Authors: Bibek Debroy

Mahabharata: Volume 7 (67 page)

Chapter 1200(50)

⁶¹⁹Yudhishthira inhaled the fragrance of Arjuna’s head.

⁶²⁰Jaya is one of Arjuna’s names, as is Vijaya.

⁶²¹Krishna’s charioteer.

⁶²³We have deliberately not translated shatapatra. Literally, it means a bird with one hundred feathers and can stand for a parrot, a woodpecker or a crane. Since this circumambulation took place in a clockwise direction (
pradakshina
), this was an auspicious sign.

⁶²⁴The text says
pumnamam
and it is difficult to pin this bird down. Literally, this should be translated as a bird name
pum
. However, this isn’t an easily identifiable bird and pum also means male. Perhaps that itself was an auspicious sign.

⁶²⁵These carnivorous birds fed on dead bodies.

⁶²⁶This is slightly inaccurate. Gandiva was created by the brahman, though Brahma owned it for one thousand years.

⁶²⁷With reference to fighting.

⁶²⁸Aratni is a measure of distance, the length of an elbow, that is, a cubit. It is thus eighteen inches long.

Chapter 1201(51)

⁶²⁹Of the battle.

⁶³⁰The word used is tata.

⁶³¹Bhishma.

⁶³²Bhurishrava.

⁶³³Jayadratha.

⁶³⁴Being used as a synonym for Kurukshetra.

⁶³⁵However, this incident has not been mentioned earlier, when that day’s fighting was being described.

⁶³⁶Duryodhana.

⁶³⁷The word used is tata.

⁶³⁸There are ten directions. The arrows followed the tenth direction and didn’t deviate to the other nine. This is an indirect way of saying that the arrows found their mark.

⁶³⁹The word horse figures twice in the text.

⁶⁴⁰Vishnu.

⁶⁴¹On the fourteenth day, the fighting continued throughout the night. This has been described in Section 70 (Volume 6).

⁶⁴²Yudhishthira.

⁶⁴³Vishnu.

⁶⁴⁴The Kouravas.

⁶⁴⁵Madri was the mother of Nakula and Sahadeva and Arjuna’s mother by extension.

⁶⁴⁶This is a reference to the episode of the house of lac, described in Section 8 (Volume 1).

⁶⁴⁷When Krishna came as a messenger, described in Section 54 (Volume 4).

⁶⁴⁸Abhimanyu was killed in Section 67 (Volume 6).

⁶⁴⁹Krishnaa, Droupadi.

⁶⁵⁰The Panchalas.

⁶⁵¹Of the Pandavas.

Chapter 1202(52)

⁶⁵²Duryodhana.

⁶⁵³The arrows.

⁶⁵⁴In Section 27 (Volume 2), on the occasion of the gambling match.

⁶⁵⁵Duryodhana.

⁶⁵⁶This great-minded is to be interpreted in the sense of insolent, that is, this is what Duryodhana thought of himself.

⁶⁵⁷Shambara was the name of a demon killed by Indra.

Chapter 1203(53)

⁶⁵⁸The image is of a river.

⁶⁵⁹Sushena and Uttamouja. This shloka should have come earlier.

⁶⁶⁰Dhrishtadyumna, Yajnasena was one of Drupada’s names.

⁶⁶¹Uttamouja’s.

Chapter 1204(54)

⁶⁶²The enemy also had gold-tufted arrows.

⁶⁶³Bhima.

⁶⁶⁴That is, Yama.

⁶⁶⁵Vishoka was Bhima’s charioteer.

⁶⁶⁶Yudhishthira.

⁶⁶⁷A pradara is a special kind of arrow.

⁶⁶⁸In the event that Bhima dies.

⁶⁶⁹Arjuna was known as Kiriti because he wore a diadem.

⁶⁷⁰Devadatta was the name of Arjuna’s conch shell.

Chapter 1205(55)

⁶⁷¹Jambha was a demon killed by Indra.

⁶⁷²Bala was a demon killed by Indra (lord of the Maruts).

⁶⁷³To the nether regions. The river Vaitarani flows in the nether regions and one has to cross it to reach Yama’s world.

⁶⁷⁴This doesn’t add up to a count of sixteen. That’s because the Critical edition excises some shlokas. In these, the missing arrows are used to strike Bhima.

⁶⁷⁵Shakuni.

⁶⁷⁶Shakuni’s.

Chapter 1206(56)

⁶⁷⁷Karna.

⁶⁷⁸Duryodhana.

Chapter 1207(57)

⁶⁷⁹Marks from the use of weapons.

⁶⁸⁰At the time of the burning of the Khandava forest, described in Section 19 (Volume 2).

⁶⁸¹The fire god.

⁶⁸²Described in Section 32 (Volume 2).

⁶⁸³Described in Section 31 (Volume 2).

⁶⁸⁴Krishna’s.

⁶⁸⁵Jishnu means the victorious one and is not only one of Arjuna’s names, but also Krishna’s. Krishna’s father was Vasudeva.

⁶⁸⁶Kritavarma.

⁶⁸⁷Ashvatthama.

⁶⁸⁸Shukra is associated with the month of Jyaishtha and Shuchi is another name for the month of Vaishakha. Hence, this means that the sun is midway between these hot summer months.

⁶⁸⁹On Arjuna’s standard.

⁶⁹⁰Ashvatthama.

⁶⁹¹Arjuna and Krishna.

⁶⁹²Arjuna.

⁶⁹³The text says suras. But this is clearly a typo and should read asuras.

Chapter 1208(58)

⁶⁹⁴The image is of hunters hunting a wild elephant with burning torches in their hands.

⁶⁹⁵Since Duryodhana and all his brothers were killed by Bhima, there is an inconsistency here and they couldn’t have been Dhritarashtra’s sons.

Chapter 1209(59)

⁶⁹⁶Those ninety rathas had taken a vow to die rather than retreat.

⁶⁹⁷Meaning Arjuna.

⁶⁹⁸The yavanas and the mlecchas are being equated here.

⁶⁹⁹Only three, presumably because the chariots had been destroyed.

⁷⁰⁰The club.

⁷⁰¹Duryodhana.

Chapter 1210(60)

⁷⁰²Meaning the Pandavas here. Kuru was a common ancestor, so the Pandavas could also be referred to as the Kurus.

⁷⁰³However, we have earlier been told that Uttamouja killed Sushena.

⁷⁰⁴Ugradhanva’s.

⁷⁰⁵Satyaki. We don’t know how Satyaki’s horses were killed.

⁷⁰⁶Karna.

⁷⁰⁷The Panchalas.

⁷⁰⁸Dhrishtadyumna.

⁷⁰⁹Janamejaya is the son of Somaka and the son of Prishata (Drupada) is Dhrishtadyumna.

⁷¹⁰Because these warriors were from Panchala.

⁷¹¹Vrishasena.

⁷¹²Kritavarma.

⁷¹³The five warriors from Panchala.

⁷¹⁴Duhshasana.

⁷¹⁵That is, they are fighting over the same she-elephant.

Chapter 1211(61)

⁷¹⁶The club.

⁷¹⁷Bhima.

⁷¹⁸At the time of the gambling match, described in Section 27 (Volume 2).

⁷¹⁹The Kouravas tried to poison Bhima in Pramanakoti. This has been described in Section 7 (Volume 1).

⁷²⁰At the time of the gambling match, Bhima took a pledge that he would kill Duhshasana in the battle and drink his blood.

⁷²¹Indra has one thousand eyes.

Chapter 1212(62)

⁷²²Jambha was a demon killed by Vishnu and Indra.

⁷²³Vrishasena.

⁷²⁴Nakula.

⁷²⁵Vrishasena.

⁷²⁶Kritavarma.

⁷²⁷Five of Drupada’s sons, Satyaki and five of Droupadi’s sons.

⁷²⁸The elephants.

⁷²⁹That is, the son of the king of Kuninda.

⁷³⁰Kripa’s.

⁷³¹Shakuni.

⁷³²Duryodhana.

⁷³³Indra is Shachi’s consort.

⁷³⁴The text of the Critical edition confuses between Shuka and Kratha. In other editions, in this description, Kratha figures consistently.

⁷³⁵The prince of Kuninda.

⁷³⁶Suparna is Garuda and the storm is raised through his wings. The text uses the word naga, which can only be translated as tree. This is probably a typo and should read
naaga
or serpent. Given Garuda, that fits better.

⁷³⁷This entire section is replete with typos and this must be another one of those. Why should the son of Kuninda attack Nakula’s son? It can only be rationalized, other than a typo, by presuming that some of the Kunindas also fought on the side of the Kouravas.

⁷³⁸Karna’s son, Vrishasena.

⁷³⁹Nakula. The Critical edition excises a shloka where we are told that Vrishasena deprived Nakula of his horses.

⁷⁴⁰Namuchi was a demon killed by Indra.

⁷⁴¹Meaning Vrishasena. Son is being used in the extended sense of a grandson.

Chapter 1213(63)

⁷⁴²Virochana’s son was the demon Bali.

⁷⁴³Karavirya Arjuna.

⁷⁴⁴Bhava is Shiva.

⁷⁴⁵Presumably because Karna was the son of the sun god.

⁷⁴⁶Presumably because Arjuna was the son of Pritha (Kunti) and earth is known as
prithvi
. Kunti personified the earth.

⁷⁴⁷Accounts (the two epics and the Puranas) are regarded as the fifth Veda.

⁷⁴⁸Kadru was married to the sage Kashyapa and was the mother of all the serpents. Since Arjuna burnt down the serpents in Khandava, the serpents should have been on Karna’s side. However, as a succeeding shloka explains, the serpents were divided.

⁷⁴⁹Surabhi was married to the sage Kashyapa and was the mother of cattle. Vaishali is a reference to the princess Vaishali, daughter of King Vishala. Her story is recounted in the Puranas. She gave birth to the famous King Marut, who was an emperor who ruled over the entire earth. The reference to Vaishali’s offspring is not obvious. Serpents mentioned again require an explanation. The earlier reference to serpents was to serpents in general. Here, the reference is to specific serpents who live in Bhogavati, the capital city of nagas.

⁷⁵⁰The Vishvadevas.

⁷⁵¹In general, the Adityas are the sons of Aditi and Kashyapa, that is, the gods. There is no reason for the gods to be on Karna’s side, especially because some of them (Vasus, Maruts, Sadhyas, Rudras, Vishvadevas, Agni, Indra, Soma (the moon god) and Pavana (the wind god) have just been mentioned to be on Arjuna’s side. However, in a narrower sense, the twelve Adityas are the manifestations of the sun for the twelve months. It is these who were on Karna’s side, Karna being the son of the sun god.

⁷⁵²Kubera.

⁷⁵³Prava is a typo. It should be Pradha. Kashyapa married Pradha and the gandharvas were the offspring. Kashyapa married Muni and the apsaras were the offspring.

⁷⁵⁴Svadha is the exclamation made when oblations are offered to the ancestors.

⁷⁵⁵Prajapati is a name for Brahma, as well as for guardians of the world. Since Brahma has been separately mentioned, the Prajapatis here are the guardians of the world.

⁷⁵⁶Shiva.

⁷⁵⁷This Prajapati means Brahma.

⁷⁵⁸Indra.

⁷⁵⁹Vijaya is Arjuna. The other one seems to be a reference to Krishna. It is difficult to make sense of these shlokas, especially because the Critical edition excises some shlokas where Indra sides with Arjuna and Surya with Karna. But the gist is that Indra wants Arjuna to win.

⁷⁶⁰Shiva.

⁷⁶¹Nara being identified with Arjuna and Narayana with Krishna.

⁷⁶²Karna.

⁷⁶³The standards.

⁷⁶⁴Krishnaa, Droupadi.

⁷⁶⁵Krishnaa’s, that is, Droupadi’s.

Chapter 1214(64)

⁷⁶⁶Towards each other’s soldiers.

⁷⁶⁷The soldiers on either side.

⁷⁶⁸Drona.

⁷⁶⁹Ashvatthama and Kripa were immortal. There are seven immortals. In addition to Ashvatthama and Kripa, these are Bali, Parashurama, Vibhishana, Vyasa and Hanumana.

⁷⁷⁰Yudhishthira.

⁷⁷¹Arjuna.

⁷⁷²Indra.

⁷⁷³One of the guardians of the world (Prajapati), sometimes identified with Daksha.

⁷⁷⁴Kubera.

⁷⁷⁵Duryodhana.