492:2 The notices of Krishńa's origin and character in various passages of the Mahábhárata are by no means consistent, and indicate different dates at least. In an address to him by Arjuna, Vana P., vol. I. p. 436, he is said to have passed thousands of years in various holy places, engaged in arduous penances. He is frequently identified with the Rishi Náráyańa, or he and Arjuna are said to be Nara and Náráyańa. In the Dána-dharma he is represented as a worshipper of Śiva, and propitiating him and his wife Umá, and receiving as boons from them wives and children. As a warrior and prince he is always on the scene; but he is repeatedly called an Anśa, or portion of Vishńu; whilst in a great number of places he is identified with Vishńu or Náráyańa, and is consequently 'all things.' This latter is his character, of course, amongst the Vaishńavas, agreeably to the text of the Bhágavata: 'Krishńa is the lord (Vishńu) himself.'

492:3 This is a still farther diminution of Krishńa's dignity; he is not even a part, but 'a part of a part,' Anśánśávatára: but this, the commentator maintains, is to be understood only of his form or condition as man, not of his power, as it suffered no diminution, either in its primary or secondary state, as light by suffusion suffers no decrease; and a verse of the Veda is cited to this effect: 'Though that which is full be taken from what is full, yet the remainder is undiminished;' 'Krishńa is nevertheless the very supreme Brahma, though it be a mystery how the supreme should assume the form of a man.' So the Bhágavata in one passage predicts that the Para-purusha, Purushottama or Vishńu, will be born visibly in the dwelling of Vasudeva.

493:4 The Bhágavata tells the circumstance as in the text. The Hari Vanśa makes Nárada apprise Kansa of his danger. Nárada's interposition is not mentioned until afterwards by our authority. Devakí is the cousin of Kansa: see p. 436.

493:5 Agni, or fire, refines gold, burns away the dross, according to the commentator. The sun is the lord of the rays of light; or, as the cause of rain and vegetation, the lord of cattle. The phrase is, ###.

494:6 According to the Váyu, Kálanemi or Kayabadha was a son of Virochana, the grandson of Hirańyakaśipu: his death is described in the Hari Vanśa.

494:7 These appear subsequently in the narration, and are destroyed by Krishńa.

494:8 Anámnáya; not the immediate object of the Vedas, which is devotion, not abstraction; ritual or worship, not knowledge.