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ANUGITA
CHAPTER XXVIII
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Brahman said :
Among men the royal Kshatriya is the middle 1 quality; among vehicles the elephant 2, and among denizens, of the forest the lion; among all sacrificial animals the sheep, and among the dwellers in holes the snake; among cattle also the bull, and among females a male 3. The Nyagrodha, the Gambu, the Pippala, and likewise the Salmali, the Sinsapa, and the. Meshasringa, and likewise the bamboo and willow 4; these are the princes among trees in this world, there is no doubt of that. The Himavat, the Pariyatra, the Sahya, the Vindhya, the Trikutavat, the Sveta, the Nila, the Bhasa, and the Koshthavat mountain, the Mahendra, the Guruskandha; and likewise the Malyavat mountain, these are the princes among mountains 5. Likewise the Maruts are (the princes) among the Ganas; the sun is the prince among the planets, and the moon 64 among the Nakshatras; Yama is the prince among the Pitris, and the ocean among rivers; Varuna is the king of the waters, and Indra is said to be (the king) of the Maruts. Arka is the king of hot (bodies), and Indu is said to be (the king) of shining bodies. Fire is ever the lord of the elements 7, and Brihaspati of Brahmanas; Soma is the lord of herbs, Vishnu is the chief among the strong; Tvashtri is the prince of the Rudras, and Siva is the ruler of (all) creatures; likewise, sacrifice of (all) initiatory ceremonies 8, and Maghavat 9 likewise of the gods; the north among the quarters, and among all vipras the powerful king Soma 10; Kubera (is lord) of all jewels, Purandara of (all) deities. Such is the highest creation among all entities. Pragapati (is lord) of all peoples; and of all entities whatever I, who am full of the Brahman, and great, (am lord). There is no higher being than myself or Vishnu. The great Vishnu full of the Brahman is the king of kings over all. Understand him to be the ruler, the creator, the uncreated Hari. For he is the ruler of men, Kinnaras, and Yakshas; of Gandharvas, snakes, and Rakshases; of gods, demons, and Nagas.
Footnotes :
1. I. e. passion--that quality--is dominant in the Kshatriya, Nilakantha. See supra.
2. Commenting on Gita V, 18 Sankara calls the elephant atyantatamasa, belonging entirely to the quality of darkness.
3. As to the constructions here, cf. generally Gita, and see the remarks of Ramanuga and Sridhara on Gita X, 21. The meaning here is, of course, the male is ruler over females.
4. I do not know what distinction is intended between these two. Generally kikaka is used for the hollow bamboo, which whistles when the wind blows through it.
5. Some of these mountains are mentioned in Patangali. See Introduction.
6. This list may be compared with that at Gita, chapter X. Sometimes the same object occurs more than once with reference to more than one class; thus the moon occurs as lord of Nakshatras, of shining bodies, and of herbs--unless Soma there stands for the Soma plant. See Gita. Arguna Misra says expressly that the moon occurs more than once as the correlatives, the classes with reference to which she is mentioned, are different. In such cases I have kept the original names untranslated; Arka = sun; Indu = moon.
7. Cf. Katha.
8. This must mean, I presume, that the sacrifice is higher than the initiation, as male than female, see note 1.
9. This is another repetition. Indra has been mentioned before, and Purandara is mentioned further on.
10. As to king Soma, see inter alia Brihadaranyaka; Khandogya, where Sankara explains 'king' by adding 'of Brahmanas.' Vipras = Brahmanas.
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