Devanagari
व्यास उवाच
भिक्षुभिर्विप्रवसिते विज्ञानादेष्टृभिस्तव ।
वर्तमानो वयस्याद्ये तत: किमकरोद्भवान् ॥ २ ॥
Verse text
vyāsa uvāca
bhikṣubhir vipravasite
vijṣānādeṣṭṛbhis tava
vartamāno vayasy ādye
tataḥ kim akarod bhavān
Synonyms
vyāsaḥ uvāca
—
Śrī Vyāsadeva said
;
bhikṣubhiḥ
—
by the great mendicants
;
vipravasite
—
having departed for other places
;
vijṣāna
—
scientific knowledge in transcendence
;
ādeṣṭṛbhiḥ
—
those who had instructed
;
tava
—
of your
;
vartamānaḥ
—
present
;
vayasi
—
of the duration of life
;
ādye
—
before the beginning of
;
tataḥ
—
after that
;
kim
—
what
;
akarot
—
did
;
bhavān
—
your good self .
Translation
Śrī Vyāsadeva said: What did you [Nārada] do after the departure of the great sages who had instructed you in scientific transcendental knowledge before the beginning of your present birth?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Vyāsa said:
When the mendicants who had taught you that knowledge departed, being of young age, what did you do?
Purport
Vyāsadeva himself was the disciple of Nāradajī, and therefore it was natural to be anxious to hear what Nārada did after initiation from the spiritual masters. He wanted to follow in Nārada’s footsteps in order to attain to the same perfect stage of life. This desire to inquire from the spiritual master is an essential factor to the progressive path. This process is technically known as
sad-dharma-pṛcchā.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Vipravasite means “departing from there.” Lack of samprasāraṇa (viproṣite) is poetic license.
Since I am your disciple, I desire to know. Therefore I am asking