TEVARAM SAYS:

See notes appended to Chapter 4, Part Two.

FOUR DASAS:

The poet puns on the word "caturdasa": it means both "fourteen" and "four stages". See also The Guru Tradition, page 184.

GANDHARVAVEDA :

The science of life or medicine, political economy; military science, and music.

NALANDA AND TAKSASILA & GATIKASTHANAS :

For a detailed account of Nalanda, Taksasila and the ghatikasthanas, see The Guru Tradition. Ghatikasthanas are Vedic schools or universities which flourished in India in ancient and medieval times.

KALA :

According to the Paramaguru, the English word "school"(or, for that matter, the French "ecole") is derived from "kala".

NYAYA :

These subjects are dealt with separately in Parts Six, Seven, Twelve, and Thirteen.

ANGAS AND UPANGAS :

These are dealt with in detail in Parts Six to Fifteen.

ANADI :

"Anadi" literelly means "without a beginning". But this meaning is ambiguous with refference to the Vedas, As applied to our scripture it means "existing from eternity", that is without any origin. For the sake of convenience the term "anadi" is used in this book without its English equivalent given every time.

BRHADARANYAKA UPANISAD :

Sa yatha'rdraidhagnerebhyahitatprthagdhuma viniscarantyevam va are'sya mahato bhutasya nihsvasitametadyadrgvedo Yajurvedo Samavedo' tharvangirasa itihasah puranam vidyopanisadah slokah sutranyanyvyakhyanani vyakhananyasyaivaitani nihsvasitani.

- Brhadaranyaka Upanisad, 2. 4. 10.

VIDYARANYASVAMIN :

Vidyaranyasvamin was a polymath and was the founder of the Vijayanagara Empire 91336). When he is spoken of as the commentator of the Vedas, Vidyaranyasvamin is noted along with his younger brother Sayanacarya, the actual producer of the commentary.

GITA:

Sarvasya ca'ham hrdi samnivisto

Mattah smrtirjnanam apohanam ca

Vedaisca sarvair aham eva vedyo

Vedantakrd Vedavid eva ca'ham.

- Bhagavadgita, 15. 15.

YA ADIKAVAYE :

Janmadyasya varo'nvayaditaratascarthesvabhijnah svarat

Tene Brahma hrda ya Adikavaye muhyanti yatsurayah

Tejovarimrdam yahta vinimayo yatra trisargo'mrsa

Dhamna svenasada cirastakuhakam satyam param dhimahi

- Bhagavata, 1. 1

GAJENDRAMOKSA :

The famous story of Visnu saving an elephant-king from the jaws of a crocodile. It is told to illustrate how the Lord is ever anxious to come to the rescue of his devotees.

BLOOD VESSELS:

The term "nadi" alos denotes a nerve.

A CENTURY AGO:

"Wireless telegraphy" or the "radio" was born in1901 while the telephone was first patented in 1876. But we must remember that this discourse was given long before 1976.

KRSNA PARAMATMAN SAID TO HIM :

Na tu mam sakyase drastum anen'aiva svacaksusa

Divyam dadami te caksuh pasya me yogam aisvaram

- Bhagavadgita, 11. 8.

MAHAVAKYAS :

The "mahavakyas " will be dealt with in the chapter on the Upanisads.

MAX MULLER :

Friedrich Max Muller (1823 -1900) was born in Germany but spent most of his working years in England. He is perhaps the best-known Western indologist. Here is one of his oft-quoted pronouncements on India : " If we were to look over the whole world to find out the country most richly endowed with all the wealth, power and beauty that nature can bertow - in some parts a very paradise on earth- I should point to India. If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered ever the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions to some of them which will deserve the attention even of those who have studied Plato and Kant - I should point to India. And if I were to ask myself from what literature, we here in Europe, we who have been nurtured almost exclusively on the thoughts of Greeks and Romans, and of one Semitic race, the Jewish, may draw the corrective which is most wanted in order to make our inner life more perfert, more comprehensive, more universal, in fact more truly human a life, not for this life only, but a transfigured and eternal life - again I should point to India. "

Despite all his apparent admiration for Hindu thought Max Muller wanted the British to propagate Christianity in India.

SIR WILLAIM JONES :

Sir William Jones (1746 -94), a pioneer in indology, landed in Madras on September 1, 1783. The Asiatic Society was founded in the following year. Sir William was the first to translate; Sakuntalam into a European language and it had a profoung impact on European thinkers and poets.

SRAUTA SUTRAS :

These sutras will be dealt with separately in Part Fifteen.

ARTHUR AVALON :

Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe ) made an important contribution to Tantric studies and to the literature of the Sakta system early in this century. His The Serpent Power is particularly famous.

LORD CURZON :

Lord Curzon was viceroy of India between 1899 and 1905.

FERGUSSON :

James Fergusson's The History of Indian and Eastern Architecture contains photographs of 3, 000 Indian monuments and was published in the seventies of the last century.

ALEXANDER CUNNINGHAM :

To Alexander Cunningham we owe some of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries in India. He came to this country in 1833 and spent more than 50 years here.

SIR JOHN MARSHALL & MORTIMER-WHEELER :

Sir John Marshall and Sir Mortimer Wheeler contributed to our knowledge of the Indus(or Harappan) civilization. The excavations were carried ou in the 1920's. There were also a couple of distinguished Indian archaeologists associated with this work.

MACKENIZIE :

Colonel Colin Mackenizie was the first surveyor - general of India. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries he made a prodigious collection of manuscripts and inscriptions (mainly South Indian). He was also interested in ancient Hindu mathematics.

COMPARITIVE PHILOLOGY :

It was Sir William Jones who first discovered the affinities between Sanskrit and the classical languages of Europe. He was thus the father of comparative philology.

TILAK :

Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak discusses the date of the Vedas in his book, The Orion. In his Preface to this work, Tilak says :". . . . as I was reading the Bhagavadgita it occured to me that we might derive important conclusions from the statement of Krsna that he was Margasirsa of the months. "He further says that he has "endeavoured to show. . . . . . . that the traditions recorded in the Rgveda unmistakably point to a pperiod not later thatn 4000 B. C. when the varnal equinox was in Orion ". (Orion is the Greek name of Mrgasirsa. )

SAMGAM PERIOD :

Samgam poetry is believed to belong to the second of third centuries A. D. if not earlier.

AN ANDA :

Usually a copper boiler.

VYAKARANA :

See Part Six and Seven.

SANDHI :

"Sandhi" means putting together, the coalescence of the final and initial letters. There are elaborate rules of sandhi in Sanskrit grammar.

IN THIS VERSE :

Padapatha is twice as beneficial as samhitatha; kramapatha is four times more beneficial; the method called "varnakrama " is a hundred times more beneficial; while jatapatha is a thousand times more beneficial.

HEART-SPACE:

"Heart-space", hrdayakasa, is a mystical concept.

INWARDLY PURE :

The Paramaguru describes the seers here as men possessing pure "antah-karanas" or "inner organs. "

TIRUKKAZHUKKUNRAM :

This is in Cengalpattu district. , Tamil Nadu.

KATHAKA :

Of the Yajurveda.

THE FOURTEEN WORLDS :

The fourteen worlds :atala, vitala, nitala (or patala), sutala, mahatala, rasatala; and bhuloka, bhuvarloka, svaloka, maharloka, janoloka, tapoloka and satyaloka.

RAJAYOGA :

Rajayoga is the superior yoga of meditation. Pranayama is the control of the vital breath.

SIX CATEGORIES :

The meaning of "alpakantha" is explained in the next chapter.

CHANDOGYA UPANISAD :

Tenobhau kuruto yascaitadevam veda yasca'na veda nana tu vidya cavidyaca; yadeva vidyaya karoti sraddhayopanisada, tadeva viryavattaram bhavatiti.

khalvetasyaivaksarasyopavyakhyanam bhavati

- Candogyopanisad, 1. 1. 10.

KUSUMANDA - LEHYA :

Kusumanda-Iehya is an Ayurvedic preparation consiting of ash- gourd, jaggery and other ingredients.

PARITRANAYA SADHUNAM :

Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam

Dharmasamsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge.

_Bhagavadgita, 4. 8

WITHOUT ANY EXPECTATION OF REWARD :

Karmanyevadhikaraste ma phalesu kadacana

Ma karma phala-hetur bhur ma te sango'sivakarmani.

- Bhagavadgita, 2. 47.

ALL YOU DESIRE :

Bhagavadgita, 3. 10

SRI KRSNA SAYS IN THE GITA :

With this shall you sustain the gods so that the gods may sustian you (in return. ). Sustaining one another you shall achieve the highest goal.

- Bhagavadgita, 3. 11

THE SUN NEVER SETS ON OUR EMPIRE :

Christopher North said in 1829 : " His magestys dominions, on which the sun never sets. "

TWO PATHS IN THE GITA :

Agnir jyotir ahah suklah sanmasca uttarayanam

Tatra candramasam jyotir hogi prapya vivarate.

Dhumo ratristatha krsnah sanmasa daksinayanam

Titra candramasam jyotir togi prapya nivartate.

Sukle krsne gatihyete jagatah sasvatemate

Ekayayartyanavrttim anyaya'vartate punah

- Bhagavadgita, 8. 24, 25 &26.

SACRIFICIAL OFFERING :

See Chapter 16 of this Part.

JNANAKANDA & KARMAKANDA:

These terms are explained in Chapter 32 of this Part.

CEN NA SABDAT :

Roughly the statement means :"Sacrifices cannot be said to be impure since they have scriptual authority (or is accompanied by the sound of the Vedas. ". The Paramaguru has of course given his own clear explanation.

CONCLUDING PASSAGE OF THE CHANDOGYA UPANISAD :

Taddhaitad Bramah Prajapataya uvaca. Prajapatir Manave, Manuh - prajabhyah. Acarya-kulad Vedam adhitya yatha-vidhanam, guroh karma atisesena abhisakavrta, kutumbe, sacaudese svadhyayam adhiyanah, dharmikan viadadhat. Atmani sarvendriyani sampratisthapya. ahimsan sarva- bhutani anyatra tirthebhyah. sa khalvevem vartayan yavad ayusam Brahmalokam abhisampadyate, na ca punaravartate, na ca punaravartate.

- Chandogya Upanisad, 8. 15. 1

THE STAGE OF THE HOUSEHOLDER :

These are dealt with in Part Eleven and Part NIneteen respectively.

AGNIHOTRA, AUPASANA, SOMAYAJNA, VAJAPEYA :

All these terms are explained in Part Nineteen.

RTVIK :

Rtviks are the priests conducting a sacrifice. See Chapter 26 of this part.

ARTHAVADA :

"Arthavada" is explained in Chapter 34 of this part.

NOT VERY PALATABLE :

Some matters dealt with in this section are from the explanations of Vedic practices given by Sri Agnihotram Tatacariyar.

- Ra. Ga.

KOLLENGODE :

Kollengode was once a small principality south of Palkkad in Kerala. The Raja of Kollengode recieved a pension from the British.

AGNIYADHANAM :

See Chapter 8, Part Nineteen.

MUDALALI :

Mudalali is a term used in the South to denote an employer (as already mentioned by the Paramaguru here) or a capitalist.

HOTA :

Here "hota" is used as an abstract noun.

RG, YAJUR AND SAMA VEDAS :

The supervisory function fo the brahma in sacrifice is very small indeed. In the course of the rites the adhvaryu seeks his permission, now and then, for the conduct of the sacrifice. The brahma grants it with an "Om". In the soma sacrifices he has a slightly bigger role. The Atharvaveda lays down the rules in this connection. In the soma sacrifices the bramah comes as the head of the three rtviks. brahmanaccahamsi, agnidhra and pota. His function is described in the Atharvaveda Samhita (19. 20. )

It is the responsibility of the bramah to point out mistakes or lapses in the conduct of a sacrifice and lay down the prayascitta and or expiation for the same.

The Atharvaveda itself declares that the position of the brahma is determined by it. Its Gopatha Brahmana has it that no sacrifice can be conducted on the basis of the other three Vedas alone. It also states that none other than an Athatvavedin can be made a brahma.

Notwithstanding this, for some reason or other, authors of dharmasastras like Apastamba have exvluded the Atharvaveda from sacrifices and permitted the participation in them of brahmas belonging to the other Vedas. However, they have not said that Athatvavedins are not required. ( This information was provided by Sri Agnihotram Ramanuja Tatacariyar. )

- Ra, Ga.