not, therefore, O goddess Ganga, grieve
for that son of Kuru's race. He was one of the Vasus, O goddess! Thy son
has gone to heaven. Let the fever of thy heart be dispelled."'

"Vaisampayana continued, 'That foremost of all rivers, thus addressed by
Krishna and Vyasa, cast off her grief, O great king, and became restored
to equanimity. All the kings there present, headed by Krishna, O monarch,
having honoured that goddess duly, received her permission to depart from
her banks.'"

The end of Anusasana Parva.

FOOTNOTES

1. The commentator explains this passage by the illustration that in the
act of felling a tree the effect is produced by the intermediate act of
raising the axe by some sentient agent, but that in the case of the
burning of a forest, the fire is produced by the friction of the dry
branches of trees without the intervention of any sentient agent.

2. Even as the wind indicates the dry twigs to ignite, adds the
commentator.

3. Literally, the releaser from bonds.

4. Refers to the curse pronounced on Viswamitra by the son of Vasishtha,
when the former acted as the priest of Trisanku. The curse was that
Viswamitra would partake of canine flesh by officiating as the priest of
one who himself was the partaker of such flesh. It is said that at a time
of great scarcity, Viswamitra was obliged to resort to dog's flesh for
food, and that as he was about to cook it, Indra pounced upon it and took
it away.

5. The constellation of the Great Bear.

6. The Pole Star.

7. Matanga was begotten upon a Brahmana woman by a Sudra father.

8. Charu is properly an oblation of rice, barley, and pulse, boiled with
butter and milk, for presentation to the gods in a sacrifice or ordinary
worship.

9. The meaning seems to be that if Destiny be unfavourable, there need
not be much fear with respect to this world. But if one be wanting in
Exertion, great must his fear be with respect to the next world, for
happiness can never be obtained in the next world unless one acts
righteously while here.

10. The commentator explains that hitam tad vada are understood in the
last line.

11. The commentator explains that the allusion here is to the adage that
swans in drinking milk mixed with water always drink the milk leaving out
the water. Learned Brahmanas are like swans for in discoursing upon even
the topics of the world they select what is good and instructive but
reject what is evil and sinful, or, as the Comment