1482.  In the second line some of the Bengal texts read lobheshu.  The correct reading is lokeshu.  Both the vernacular translators adhere to the wrong reading.

1483.  Mokshartha is moksha-prayojanah.

1484.  The argument contained in these verses is this:  as thou dost not know what becomes of thy relatives when they die, thou canst not help them then.  It seems plain, therefore, that when thou shalt die thy relatives will not be able to do thee any good.  Hence, thou gainest nothing by bestowing thy thoughts on thy relatives, forgetting thy own great concern, viz., the acquisition of Emancipation.  Similarly, when thy relatives live and suffer irrespective of thy life or death, and thou too must enjoy or endure irrespective of their existence or efforts, it is meant that thou shouldst not be forgetful of thy own highest good by busying thyself with the concerns of thy relatives.

1485.  The sense is that one who takes only a handful of corn for the support of life even when millions upon millions of carts loaded with corn await his acceptance, is certainly to be regarded as freed.  Literally rendered, the second line is—­’who beholds a shed of bamboo or reeds in a palace,’ meaning, of course, as put above, ’one who sees no difference between the two.’

1486.  Avritti is want of the means of sustaining life:  thence, scarcity or famine.

1487.  The sense is that as the maintenance of wives and children is painful, one should withdraw from the world and retire into solitude.

1488.  The sense seems to be this:  Is it a life of domesticity that thou wouldst lead?  There is no harm in thy doing this, provided thou behavest in the way pointed out.  Is it Emancipation that thou wouldst pursue (in the usual way), i.e., by retiring into solitude and betaking thyself to Sannyasa?  Thou mayst then behave in the way pointed out, and, indeed, that is the way of Sannyasa which leads to Emancipation.

1489.  The planet Venus is supposed to be the sage Usanas or Sukra.

1490.  The commentator explains the allusion by saying that formerly Vishnu, induced by the deities, used his discus for striking off the head of Usanas’ mother.  Hence the wrath of Usanas against the deities and his desire to succour their foes, the Danavas.

1491.  The construction of this verse is very difficult.  The order of the words, is—­Indrotha jagatah prabhuh.  Dhanada, etc., tasya kosasaya prabhavishnuh.

1492.  Persons crowned with Yoga-success are competent to enter the bodies of others and deprive the latter of the power of will.  Indeed, the belief is that the latter then become mere automata incapable of acting in any other way except as directed by the enlivening possessor.

1493.  The etymology of Pinaka is panina anamayat.  The initial and final letter of pani (pi) and the middle letter of anamayat (na), with the suffix ka make Pinaka.