392:1 The Váyu says the essence of Soma (Somatwa) issued from the eyes of Atri, and impregnated the ten quarters. The Bhágavata says merely that Soma was born from the eyes of Atri. The Bráhma P. and Hari V. give a grosser name to the effusion.

393:2 'He who knows.' Much erroneous speculation has originated in confounding this Budha, the son of Soma, and regent of the planet Mercury, 'he who knows,' the intelligent, with Buddha, any deified mortal, or 'he by whom truth is known;' or, as individually applicable, Gautama or Śákya, son of the Raja Śuddhodana, by p. 394 whom the Buddhists themselves aver their doctrines were first promulgated. The two characters have nothing in common, and the names are identical only when one or other is misspelt.

394:3 The story of Purúravas is told much in the same strain as follows, though with some variations, and in greater or less detail, in the Váyu, Matsya, Vámana, Padma, and Bhágavata Puráńas. It is also referred to in the Mahábhárata, vol. I. p. 113. It is likewise the subject of the Vikrama and Urvaśí of Kálídása, in which drama the incidents offensive to good taste are not noticed. See Hindu Theatre, vol. I. p. 587. The Matsya Puráńa, besides this story, which is translated in the introduction to the drama, has in another part, c. 94, an account of a Purúravas, who, in the Chákshusha Manwantara, was king of Mad́ra, and who by the worship of Vishńu obtained a residence with the Gandharbas.

394:4 One copy has sixty-one years; the Bráhma P. and Hari V. have fifty-nine: one period is as likely as the other.

397:5 It does not appear why this passage is repeated. The length of the sticks, conformably to the number of syllables in the usual form of the Gayatrí, would be twenty-four inches. The Bhágavata attaches to the operation a piece of mysticism of a Tántrika origin: Purúravas, whilst performing the attrition, mentally identifies himself and Urvaśí with the two sticks, and repeats the Mantra, ###.