476 Srimad-Bhagavatam {Canto 1, Ch. 9
upayan— means; yatha—as it is; mune—O sages; nana—various; akhyana—by
recitation of historical narrations; itihasesu—in the histories; varnayamdasa
—described; tattvavit—one who knows the truth.
TRANSLATION
Then he described the occupational duties of different orders and
statuses of life, citing instances from history, for he was himself well
acquainted with the truth.
PURPORT
Incidences mentioned in the Vedic literatures, such as the Puranas,
Mahabharata and Ramayana, etc., are factual historical narrations which
took place sometime in the past, although not in any chronological order.
Such historical facts, being instructive for ordinary men, were assorted
without chronological reference. Besides that, they happen on different
planets, nay, in different universes, and thus the description of the narrations
is sometimes measured by three dimensions. We are simply concerned
with the instructive lessons of such incidences, even though they are not
in order by our limited range of understanding. Bhismadeva described such
narrations before Maharaja Yudhisthira in reply to his different questions.
TEXT 29
we rrcarea a ae Tayi |
x 83H bens . e
PPI CES EPIC ESh ic CCIE URS
dharmar pravadatas tasya
sa kalah pratyupasthitah
yo yoginas chanda-mrtyor
vaiichitas tittarayanah
dharmam—occupational duties; pravadatah—while describing; tasya—
his; sah—that; kalah—time; pratyupasthitah—exactly appeared; yah—that is;
yoginah—for the mystics; chanda-mrtyoh—of one who dies according to
one’s own selection of time; vanchitah—as desired by; tu—but; uttardyanah
—period when the sun runs on the northern horizon.
