took Gayatri, the milkmaid, as a second wife, because his chief wife, Saraswati, despite her wisdom, arrived late for a certain important ceremony, at which the spouse of the god was required.
109
Unfaithful wives were transformed into jackals after death.
110
Lokapala-Sabhakhyana section of Sabha Parva.
111
Sons of the goddess Aditi. They are attendants of Varuna, their chief, as the Maruts are attendants of Indra.
112
Adi Parva section of Mahabharata, Roy's trans., p. 635.
113
The Tribes and Castes of Bengal. H. H. Risley (1892), vol. i, lxv, et seq.
114
Muir's Original Sanskrit Texts, v, 15.
115
Professor E. Vernon Arnold's The Rigveda, p. 54.
116
In the combat between Thor and the giant Hrungner, the thunder-hammer similarly cleaves a mass of flint hurled by the enemy.—Teutonic Myth and Legend.
117
Mahabharata, Vana Parva section, pp. 679-80, Roy's trans.
118
“Overwhelmed by misfortune” (Roy).
119
Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld.
121
Asuras are sometimes called Rakshasas also.
123
Bloomfield's Atharvaveda iv, 36 (Sacred Books of the East, vol. xlii).
124
Mahabharata, Roy's trans. (Sabha Parva, p. 32).
125
Vana Parva section of Mahabharata.
126
Dasyu and Dasa are “applied in many passages of the Rigveda to superhuman enemies”. The colour reference in Dasa is probable, but it is also used in other senses. For a full discussion on conflicting views regarding Dasyu and Dasa see Vedic Index of Names and Subjects. Macdonell and Keith, vol. i, pp. 347-9 and 356-8.
127
Mahabharata, Roy's translation (Adi Parva, section, pp. 495-6).
128
Like an Egyptian Pharaoh, the rajah is here a god among men. His presence was necessary to ensure the success of rain-bringing ceremonies.
