101. Gāndhārī’s one hundred sons, the Kurus, all perished in the great war.
102. For the guru as helmsman, see X.87.33 (quoted in “Satsaṅga and the Guru”).
103. This refers to Kṛṣṇa’s official mission during His incarnation: to eliminate all the asuras, the enemies of the celestials, who had taken birth as demoniac kings and had become a disturbance on earth.
104. These sages are Marīci, Atri, Aṅgiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, and Vasiṣṭha.
105. The kṣetra-jña is the ātman still bound by the subtle body.
106. This state of turīya (“the fourth”) is that of pure consciousness, where consciousness is not aware of any object external to itself. Attaining this is the goal of generic yoga practice. The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad features the four states of consciousness (which it correlates with the segments of the sacred syllable oṁ). The idea here is that Śamīka’s consciousness was not externalized, and thus he was not aware of the king’s presence or request for water.
107. For similar concerns about the negative consequences of caste intermixture, see Gītā I.39ff.
108. The horse sacrifice was performed on the coronation of kings wishing to establish their supremacy over neighboring kings (see, for instance, Yudhiṣṭhira after the great war in the Mahābhārata, book 14).
109. The dualities are happiness and distress, hot and cold, honor and dishonor, and so on. They essentially refer to all shades of sensual or mental experiences.
110. See Gītā II.38, 64.
111. This is a reference to the Vāmana incarnation, who traversed the universe with his step, which was then washed by the celestials. The water from this, according to the Bhāgavata, is the origin of the Gaṅgā river (VIII.21.3–4). On its way to the earth, it flows past the celestial realms, hence the reference to “both worlds.”
112. The tulasī plant is sacred to Viṣṇu and found in the homes of all traditional Vaiṣṇavas. When food is offered to the deities in Vaiṣṇava devotional practices (bhakti), a tulasī leaf is placed on each item of foodstuff.
113. The idea here is that in conventional lore, one goes to a holy place to be purified in the sacred rivers and such of that place. But since the saints residing in such places always carry Viṣṇu in their minds, it is actually they who purify the holy places to begin with.
114. This is a statement of humility, as well as of honor for the sages: the water used for washing feet is normally considered contaminated and discarded at a distance, but Parīkṣit is saying that kings are even more contaminated than this, so they should be discarded far from even where the water used for washing the feet of the brāhmaṇas is deposited.
115. These placements are all considered auspicious, as is kuśa grass, used as a seat in Vedic rituals.
116. The idea here is that lesser kings bow down to the royal throne of the Kurus (thereby touching it with the helmets on their heads).
117. The etymological meaning of the word vai-kuṇṭha is “free of dullness.”
118. The Vedas have divine personalities; they can manifest as texts or as celestial beings.
119. Kṛṣṇa’s father, Vasudeva, was the brother of Kuntī, the wife of Pāṇḍu. Hence Kṛṣṇa is a cousin of the Pāṇḍavas (the sons of Pāṇḍu). He is thus Parīkṣit’s granduncle (Parīkṣit is the grandson of Arjuna, one of the five Pāṇḍavas).
120. For japa, see Yoga Sūtras I.27; Gītā X.25; and “Kīrtana (Chanting).”
121. The idea here is that renunciants do not associate with worldly people. They may come to a household in the guise of begging some alms in the form of a draft of milk, in order to bless the householders and give them an opportunity to inquire about Ultimate Truths, but they do not tarry there.