493.  A countless number almost.

494.  Here the exact number of years is not stated.

495.  Some of the most beautiful ladies in Indian mythology and history have been of dark complexion.  Draupadi, the queen of the Pandavas, was dark in colour and was called Krishna.  As to women called Syamas, the description given is that their bodies are warm in winter and cold in summer, and their complexion is like that of heated gold.

496.  A very large figure is given.

497.  This sacrifice consisted of the slaughter of a human being.

498.  The exact number of years is given, consisting of a fabulous figure.

499.  Abhravakasasila is explained by Nilakantha as having the attribute of the Avakasa or place of Abhra or the clouds.  Hence, as stainless as the ether, which, of course, is the purest of all the elements.

500.  Sacrifices have for their soul either the actual rites laid down in the scriptures or fasts of several kinds.  The observance of fasts is equal to the performance of sacrifices, for the merits of both are equal.

501.  The word Tirtha as already explained (in the Santi Parva) means a sacred water.  There can be no Tirtha without water, be it a river, a lake, or even a well.  Bhishma, however, chooses to take the word in a different sense.

502.  The language is figurative.  By Manasa is not meant the trans-Himalayan lake of that name, which to this day is regarded as highly sacred and draws numerous pilgrims from all parts of India.  The word is used to signify the Soul.  It is fathomless in consequence of nobody being able to discover its origin.  It is pure and stainless by nature.  It is represented here as having Truth for its waters and the Understanding for its lake.  Probably, what is meant by this is that the Understanding, containing the waters of Truth, forms a part of this Tirtha as the lakes of Pushkara form a part of the Tirtha called by that name.

503.  Once freed from the idea of meum implies him who identifies himself with all creatures; him, that is, in whom the idea of self has been extinguished.

504.  Such a man, through the merit he acquires, causes his deceased ancestors and descendants to be freed from every kind of misery in the next world.

505.  In the Naramedha, a human being was offered up as the sacrifice.

506.  The sense seems to be this:  One that is not possessed of much learning is liable to do improper acts.  These acts are all done for another, viz., one’s body and the senses and not oneself.  The para here is, the Not-self.

507.  Nichayam is, as explained by the commentator Avasthitim.

508.  The sense is that when these leave the body, they are accompanied by Righteousness.

509.  Intermediate. i.e., between deities and human beings; hence, animals and birds.

510.  Brahma-Rakshasa is a Rakshasa that belongs, like Ravana and others, by birth to the regenerate order.