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After light, from out of the same Evolvent, emanates water, which has been declared to be endowed with the quality of taste. and after water, comes earth, endowed with the quality of odour. — Such is creation at the outset. — (78)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Taste’ — such as ‘sweet’ and the rest., — is the quality of Water. — ‘Odour’ good smell and evil, is the quality of earth; as say the Vaiśeṣikas — ‘odour subsists in earth alone.’

Each of the single qualities that have been mentioned as belonging to each of the elemental substances, is what is inherent in it by its very nature; when, however, the substances come to be mixed up, their qualities also become intermingled. It is in view of this that we have the statement in verse 20 that — ‘each elemental substance is endowed with as many qualities as the place it occupies’.

This description of the qualities comes useful in meditation on the soul. This has been thus declared by the author of the Purāṇa. — ‘Those who meditate upon the sense-organs (as the soul) stay here for ten manvantaras; those who meditate upon the Elemental Substances stay for a hundred, and those who meditate upon the Principle of Egoism stay for a thousand manvantaras; [‘abhimāninaḥ’ means those who think of the Principle of Egoism]; those who meditate upon the great Principle of Intelligence stay for ten thousand manvantaras, freed from all sufferings; for full hundred thousand years stay those who meditate upon the Unmanifest (Primordial Matter); when one has reached the soul, devoid of all qualities, all limitation ceases.’ — (78)

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha:

‘Āditaḥ’ — (a) ‘after the Mahāpralaya’ (Kullūka); — (b) ‘after the Khaṇḍapralaya’ (Govindarāja and NārāyaḌa); (c) ‘Before the creation of the Egg’ (Nandana).

Comparative notes by various authors:

See Comparative notes for Verse 1.75 (Ākāśa produced out of ‘Mind’).

VERSE 1.79 [Regime of one Manu]

Section XLVIII - Regime of one Manu

यद् प्राग् द्वादशसाहस्रमुदितं दैविकं युगम् ।
तदेकसप्ततिगुणं मन्वन्तरमिहोच्यते ॥७९॥

yad prāg dvādaśasāhasramuditaṃ daivikaṃ yugam |
tadekasaptatiguṇaṃ manvantaramihocyate ||79||

The ‘Time-cycle of the Gods’ which has been described above as consisting of ‘twelve thousand periods,’ — this multiplied by ‘seventy-one’ forms what is known here as ‘Manvantara’ (Regime of a Manu). — (79)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The period of time named ‘manvantara’ consists of seventy-one ‘Time-cycles of the gods.’ — (79)

VERSE 1.80 [Manvantara]

Section XLIX - Manvantara

मन्वन्तराण्यसङ्ख्यानि सर्गः संहार एव च ।
क्रीडन्निवैतत् कुरुते परमेष्ठी पुनः पुनः ॥८०॥

manvantarāṇyasaṅkhyāni sargaḥ saṃhāra eva ca |
krīḍannivaitat kurute parameṣṭhī punaḥ punaḥ ||80||

Innumerable Manvantaras, as also Creation and Dissolution — all this the supreme lord calls into being again and again, as if in amusement — (80).

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Innumerable’ — Whose number is not limited.

Objection — “In works on Astronomy and other subjects we find the number of Manvantaras stated as fourteen.”

Our answer is that they are ‘innumerable’ in the sense that they revert repeatedly; in the same manner as the ‘twelve months.’

Of ‘Creation’ and ‘Dissolution’ also the repitition never ceases.

‘He calls into being all this as if in amusement’: — An objection is raised — “A man takes to an amusement only when he seeks for pleasure; as for the Supreme Lord, since he has all his desires fulfilled, and since his very form consists of pure Bliss, his acts of creation and dissolution could not be due to amusement.”

It is in view of this fact that the author has added the qualifying term ‘as if.’ The real answer to the objection however is what has been stated above [in the Bhāṣya on verse 21, where it has been pointed out that creation and dissolution are primarily due to the previous acts of living beings.] The answer provided by the ‘Knowers of Brahman’ (Vedāntins) is that in ordinary life also, in the case of kings and other such persons, it is found that they often act for mere diversion, without desire for any particular thing — (80).

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha:

‘Krīḍan’ — cf. Brahmasūtra — ‘Lokavattu līlākaivalyam.’ This idea of creation being a ‘sport’ for God is common in Hindu Theism.

VERSE 1.81 [Dharma perfect in the Kṛta Cycle]

Section L - Dharma perfect in the Kṛta Cycle

चतुष्पात् सकलो धर्मः सत्यं चैव कृते युगे ।
नाधर्मेणागमः कश्चिन् मनुष्यान् प्रति वर्तते ॥८१॥

catuṣpāt sakalo dharmaḥ satyaṃ caiva kṛte yuge |
nādharmeṇāgamaḥ kaścin manuṣyān prati vartate ||81||

In the Kṛta Cycle Virtue exists in its perfect form, with all its four feet; and so does Truth; — No benefit accrues to men by vice — (81).

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Virtue is that which has “four feet.” What constitutes ‘virtue’ is the action of sacrifice and the like; and as this latter is something to he performed, it has no body; hence the word ‘feet’ in the text cannot be taken as denoting the part of a body; it stands for ‘part’ or ‘factor.’ As a matter of fact, Virtue has no body, either like men or like birds and animals. Hence what is meant by Virtue having all its ‘four feet’ is that it is equipped with all its four factors. The meaning of the text thus is that such virtue as is perfect and equipped with its four factors existed in the Kṛta Cycle. — [The ‘four factors’ are now illustrated] — At the sacrifice, when it is in course of performance, there are four priests — viz., the ‘Hotṛ,’ the ‘Brahman,’ the ‘Udgātṛ’ and the ‘Adhvaryu’; — of the performers there are four castes, or four life-stages. ‘Virtue’ as it is described in the Veda was performed during that cycle in its entire and perfect form; i.e., it was not deficient in even the smallest factor, and it was not wanting in any of its details. The number ‘four’ is applicable to Virtue in many ways. For instance, in the case of the action of ‘giving’ also, there is the giver, the thing given, the recipient and his satisfaction. Or the ‘four factors’ of Virtue may be sacrifice, charity, austerity, and knowledge. This would he in accordance with what is going to be described in verse 86 as regards ‘Austerity’ being the chief virtue in the Kṛta age.

Or, the term ‘Dharma’ ‘Virtue’ in the text, may be taken as standing for the words descriptive of Virtue; and of such words the ‘four feet’ are the four kinds of words — Nouns, Verbs, Prepositions and Indeclinables. This is thus declared in Ṛgveda 1.164.45 — ‘There are four words contained in speech, these the wise Brāhmaṇas know’ — (in this passage) the epithet ‘manīsiṇaḥ,’ ‘wise,’ stands for those ‘who are of powerful minds,’ i.e., learned, virtuous; — (the passage goes on) ‘these, placed in the cave, do not appear to view,’ — i.e., are not perceptible — ‘the fourth speech people speak’ — the fourth, people versed in the Veda speak. The meaning of this passage is that — ‘in the beginning, no Vedic sentence was hidden from view, nor was any Vedic Rescensional Text lost, while now a days, much has become lost.’

‘So does truth,’ — that is, truth also exsists in its perfect form. Though truth also, being what is prescribed in the Veda, is a ‘virtue’ (and as such already included in the latter term), yet it has been separately mentioned with a view to show its special importance, or to indicate that it forms the basis of all virtues, the performance of ‘virtue’ in its entire form is based upon truth; and those who are untruthful, perform, for the purpose of gaining popularity, only a part of what constitutes ‘virtue’ and ignore the rest of it.

‘By vice’ — i.e., by following the prohibited path , — ‘no benefit’ — in the shape of either learning or wealth, — ‘accrues’ — comes — to the performer; this is by virtue of the special character of the age. (During that age) men do not acquire learning, nor do they earn wealth, by vicious means. Learning and wealth are the means by which virtuous acts are performed; hence when it is said that these are pure, what is meant is that this is what tends to virtue being performed in its entire and perfect form — (81).

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha:

Dharma with its ‘four feet’ is a common idea in Hinduism. In VIII. 16 we have the picture of Dharma as a ‘bull’; its ‘four feet’ have been variously identified: — (a) according to Medhātithi, they represent the four principal sacrificial priests — Adhvaryu, Hotṛ, Brahman and Udgātṛ; — (b) he also suggests, along with Nandana, that they may stand for the four castes; — (c) they have been held by Medhātithi, Kullūka and Nārāyaṇa to stand for the four means of acquiring merit — Tapas, Jñāna, Yajña and Dāna; — (d) and last, they have been identified by Medhātithi with the four kinds of speech described in Ṛgveda 1.164.45 — ‘Three being hidden in the cave and the fourth being spoken by men.’

‘Satyam’ — Though included in ‘Dharma,’ this has been mentioned separately, for the purpose of showing its special importance. The Aparārka (p. 1012) quotes the first line of this verse as showing the diverse character of the various cycles. — The verse is quoted in the Vīramitrodaya — Parībhāṣā, p. 50.

Comparative notes by various authors:

(Verse 81-86)

Mahābhārata, 12.231.23-28. — (Same as Manu.)

VERSE 1.82 [Virtue loses one ‘foot’ in each succeeding Cycle]

Section LI - Virtue loses one ‘foot’ in each succeeding Cycle

इतरेष्वागमाद् धर्मः पादशस्त्ववरोपितः ।
चौरिकानृतमायाभिर्धर्मश्चापैति पादशः ॥८२॥

itareṣvāgamād dharmaḥ pādaśastvavaropitaḥ |
caurikānṛtamāyābhirdharmaścāpaiti pādaśaḥ ||82||

In the other Cycles, virtue fell off from the scriptures, foot by foot; and on account of theft, falsehood and fraud, virtuous acts deteriorated foot by foot — (82).

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

In the Cycles other than the Kṛta; — ‘from the scriptures,’ called ‘Veda’; — ‘virtue’ — ‘foot by foot’ — by one foot in each succeeding Cycle, — ‘fell off,’ was carried away; — the Vedic Texts disappeared, by reason of the deterioration in the powers of learning and assimilating of men (le arning the texts).

The ‘virtuous acts’ — in the form of the Jyotiṣṭoma and other sacrifices, that are performed now a days, — these also ‘deteriorated foot by foot’ on account of ‘theft’ &c.; i.e., since Priests, Sacrifices, Bestowers and Recipients of gifts, are all beset with the said evils, the virtuous act is not accomplished in the proper manner, and hence the result mentioned (as accruing from that act) also is not attained. In as much as this is the real meaning, we do not take ‘theft’ and the rest as applied to each of the three Cycles respectively; specially as all of them (theft &c.,) are found prevalent even now a days (in Kali) — (82).

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha:

This verse also has been variously interpreted: — (a) According to Medhātithi it means that during the Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kali cycles, ‘Dharma fell off from the scriptures, foot by foot, and that there was deterioration foot by foot in the fruit of Dharma also, — the reason for this latter fact lying in the prevalence of theft, falsehood and fraud during all these three cycles’; and he emphasises the fact that theft eta, are not to be token as pertaining to the three cycles respectively; — (b) according to Kullūka, Nārāyaṇa and Rāghavānanda, the meaning is that during the three cycles, by reason of unjust gains (‘āgamāt’) Dharma successively loses one foot etc., eta; — (c) Govindarāja agrees with Medhātithi, hut with this difference that he appears to favour the view that the deterioration in the results of acts is due to theft, falsehood and fraud respectively, — the view that has been repudiated by Medhātithi; — (d) according to Nandana — ‘it having been declared in the preceding verse that in the Kṛta-cycle there were no scriptures, it is now said that during the other three cycles, Dharma is determined by the scriptures, — and it diminishes successively in each age by one quarter.’

This verse is quoted in the Vīramitrodaya — Paribhāṣā, p. 50.

Comparative notes by various authors:

(Verse 81-86)

See Comparative notes for Verse 1.81 (Dharma in the Kṛta-yuga).

VERSE 1.83 [The span of Human Life in each Cycle]

Section LII - The span of Human Life in each Cycle

अरोगाः सर्वसिद्धार्थाश्चतुर्वर्षशतायुषः ।
कृते त्रेतादिषु ह्येषामायुर्ह्रसति पादशः ॥८३॥

arogāḥ sarvasiddhārthāścaturvarṣaśatāyuṣaḥ |
kṛte tretādiṣu hyeṣāmāyurhrasati pādaśaḥ ||83||

During the Kṛta Cycle, men are free from disease, they have all their aims fulfilled, and their life lasts trhough four hundred years; — During the Tretā and other Cycles, their life becomes shortened, quarter by quarter. — (83).

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

By reason of the absence of vice, which is the cause of disease, men are ‘free from disease’; ‘disease’stands for sickness. — ‘All,’ the four castes, have their desired purposes accomplished; ‘aim’ stands for purpose; or (it may mean) the results following from all their acts with purposes are duly obtained; on account of the absence of obstacles, all result are obtained without fail.

‘Their life lasts through four hundred years’ — “But we find the highest age described as 1600 years, in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (3.16.7), where it is said ‘he lived for sixteen hundred years’.”

It is in view of this that it has been held that the term ‘hundred years’ here stands for the stages of life; the meaning thus being that ‘they live through all the four stages of life,’ — man’s life is never shortened, they never die without having reached the fourth stage. That such is the meaning is shown by the fact that in the second half of the verse we have the assertion ‘vayo hrasati,’ ‘life becomes shortened’; this subsequent mention of the ‘shorterning of life’ would have some point only if the ‘lengthening of life’ were spoken of in the preceding sentence.

‘Quarter by quarter’ — the term ‘quarter’ here does not stand for the fourth part, it stands only for part; the meaning being that ‘man’s life becomes shortened in part’, i.e. some die while they are young children, others on reaching youth, and others on attaining old age; and the full span of life is difficult to attain. — (83)

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha:

‘Quarter by quarter’ — The natural meaning is that men lived for 400 years during Kṛta, 300 years during Tretā, 200 years during Dvāpara and 100 years during Kali But in view of the assertion in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad of a man having lived for 1600 years (3.16.17) Medhātithi has been forced to remark that ‘quarter’ here stands for part, and not for the precise fourth part, and to explain the text to mean that ‘man’s life becomes shortened in part; some die while they are young children, others on reaching youth and others on attaining old age.’

The Aparārka (p. 1012) quotes the first line in support of the view that each cycle has a distinct character of its own.

Comparative notes by various authors:

(Verse 81-86)

See Comparative notes for Verse 1.81 (Dharma in the Kṛta-yuga).

VERSE 1.84

Section LII - The span of Human Life in each Cycle

वेदोक्तमायुर्मर्त्यानामाशिषश्चैव कर्मणाम् ।
फलन्त्यनुयुगं लोके प्रभावश्च शरीरिणाम् ॥८४॥

vedoktamāyurmartyānāmāśiṣaścaiva karmaṇām |
phalantyanuyugaṃ loke prabhāvaśca śarīriṇām ||84||

The full age of mortals spoken of in the Veda, the results of actions and the powers of embodied beings, — are obtained in accordance with the character of the Cycle. — (84)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Some people offer the following explanation: — What is meant ‘the age spoken of in the Veda’ is the age of a thousand years and so forth, which is indicated by the Veda prescribing such rites as are mentioned as extending over ‘thousand years’; and this age is ‘obtained’, reached, only in accordance with the nature of the Cycle, and not in all Cycle; for instance, now-a-days no one ever lives for ‘thousand years’ he who lives long, lives for a hundred years.

There are others who do not accept this explanation, and for the following reasons: — It has been decided (under Mīmāmsā-Sutras 6. 7.31-40) that when the term ‘year’ occurs in the Veda in connection with the long sacrificial sessions, it stands for ‘days’; so that if something else (in the shape of years) were taken as enjoined, then there would he an inconsistency, and this would lead to the ‘splitting of the sentence’; — the text in connection with the subject is in the form ‘pañcapañc??hatah tṛvṛtaḥ samvatsarāḥ’, ‘the fifty-five trios, years’ (literally); now hero what is definitely indicated by the context is that the term ‘trio’ stands for the three days of the vāmayana Sacrifice; so that it is in regard to these that the particular number (Fifty-five) is laid down; under the circumstances, if the sentence, by virtue of the term ‘Samvatsarāḥ’, ‘years’, were taken as laying down the further unknown fact? the said (trios) being ‘years’, — then there would be a?it in the sentence; in order to avoid this, it becomes necessary to take one or the other of the words as merely reite??ive (not injunctive); — now as regards the term ‘Samvatsara’, ‘year’, we find that, on the basis of diverse calculations, known as the ‘Saura’, the ‘Sāvana’ and so forth, it is often used in a sense other than that of a collection of exactly three hundred and sixty day; so that it is only right that this term (and not the term ‘fifty-five’) should be taken figuratively, as being descriptive of ‘days’.

Others again argue as follows: — Among the Mantra and Arthavāda texts of the Veda we find such egressions as — ‘The gods live for a hundred years’, ‘the man’s life is of hundred years’, and so forth, — where the term ‘hundred’ is found used in the sense of ‘many’ and ‘man’ is purely indefinite; hence the meaning (of our text,) is that ‘men are short-lived or long-lived according to the Cycle’. — If the verse were taken in its literal sense, it would mean that during Kali all men live for a hundred years, and this would not be true], — Or, it may mean that the exact extent of ‘full age’ — which is found mentioned as the result of sacrifices performed by the man desiring full age — being nowhere defined the extent should be taken as determined by the character of the particular Cycle.

‘Results’ — i.e., the things desired as results. described in the Veda, proceeding from acts performed with a purpose. — Though ‘full age’ also is a desired result, yet it has been mentioned separately in view of its importance; as declared in such words as — ‘Full age is the highest desirable object’.

‘Power’ — i.e. the superphysio faculties, consisting in being equipped with aṇimā (the faculty of becoming as small as one likes) and such other faculties’, — or in the form of ability to pronounce effective curses, as? bestowing effective boons

‘Are obtained in accordance with the character of the Cycle’ — this has to be construed with all (three phrases) — (84).

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha:

Medhātithi (p. 39, l. 5) — ‘Dīrghasatreṣu’ — Sec Mīmāṃsā-Sūtra 6.7.31-40 and Śabara on 6.7.7 —

yadi pañca pañāśataḥ ‘trivṛtaḥ’ (i. e., the three days of the Gavāmayana), na saṃvatsarāḥ | yadi saṃvatsarāḥ ‘trivṛtaḥ’, na pañcapañcāśataḥ | tasmāt virodhādanyatarad gauṇam |

This is the virodha mentioned by Medhātithi in line (6] Which of the two is to be taken as gauṇa is explained by Śabara on 6.7.38, where the conclusion is that the term saṃvatsara should be regarded as gauṇa.

Medhātithi ( p. 39, l. 12 ) — Śataśabdaśca bahunāmasu pāṭhitaḥ’ — e.g., Kauṣītaki Upaniṣad 2. 11; Īśā Upaniṣad 2; Mahānarāyaṇa Upaniṣad 6, — in addition to the passages quoted by Medhātithi himself.

Comparative notes by various authors:

(Verse 81-86)

See Comparative notes for Verse 1.81 (Dharma in the Kṛta-yuga).

VERSE 1.85 [Characteristics of the Cycles]

Section LIII - Characteristics of the Cycles

अन्ये कृतयुगे धर्मास्त्रेतायां द्वापरेऽपरे ।
अन्ये कलियुगे नॄणां युगह्रासानुरूपतः ॥८५॥

anye kṛtayuge dharmāstretāyāṃ dvāpare'pare |
anye kaliyuge nṝṇāṃ yugahrāsānurūpataḥ ||85||

During the Kṛta-cycle, the characteristics of men are of one kind, — of different kinds during the Tretā and the dvāpara, — and of yet another kind during the Kali-cycle; — this being due to the deterioration of each suceeding Cycle. — (85)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

This verse sums up what has been said in regard to the diversity in the nature of things based upon the difference in time.

The word ‘Dharma’ here is not restricted to the sense of sacrifice and such other acts (prescribed by the Veda); it stands for the characteristic of things in general. The meaning thus is that in each Cycle, the character of things varies, as shown before (in verses 83 and 84); just as, for instance, the character of things during the Spring is of one kind, of a different kind during the Summer, and of yet another kind during the Rains, — so it is in connection with the Cycles also.

By ‘difference’ it is not meant that things cease to bring about effects that they are found (at one time) to produce, and bring about other effects; what is meant is that they become incapable of bringing about their complete effects; and this by reason of the decrease in their potency. This is what is meant by the phrase — ‘this being due to the deterioration of each succeeding Cycle,’ — ‘deterioration’ meaning inferiority. — (85).

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha:

Buhler translates the verse to mean that the diversity of Dharma is due to the decrease in the length of the yugas. This however is not countenanced by any of the commentators, all of whom agree that the said diversity is due to the relative inferiority of fine age to the other.

Medhātithi’s interpretation of 85 is not quite consistent with what follows in 86; but he has taken care to disconnect 85 from 86; he distinctly says that what is said in 86 is a ‘diversity in the character of the yugas’ distinct from what has been set forth in 85. Really this is made clear by the fact that in 85, the word ‘Dharma’ stands, according to Medhātithi, not for duty, but for characteristic.

This verse is quoted in Hemādri — Pariśeṣa — Kāla, p. 657; — and in the Smṛticandrikā — Saṃskāra, p. 27.

Comparative notes by various authors:

(Verse 81-86)

See Comparative notes for Verse 1.81 (Dharma in the Kṛta-yuga).

VERSE 1.86 [Variation of ‘Virtue’ in the four Cycles]

Section LIV - Variation of ‘Virtue’ in the four Cycles

तपः परं कृतयुगे त्रेतायां ज्ञानमुच्यते ।
द्वापरे यज्ञमेवाहुर्दानमेकं कलौ युगे ॥८६॥

tapaḥ paraṃ kṛtayuge tretāyāṃ jñānamucyate |
dvāpare yajñamevāhurdānamekaṃ kalau yuge ||86||

In the Kṛta Cycle, ‘Austerity’ is the highest; in the Tretā ‘knowledge’ is described as such; in the Dvāpara they call the ‘Sacrifice’ the highest, and ‘Charity’ alone in the Kali-Cycle — (86).

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