एकदा सोऽमलप्रज्ञो मेरावेकान्तसुस्थितम् । पप्रच्छ पितरं भक्त्या कृष्णद्वैपायनं मुनिम् ॥ १३ ॥
ēkadā sō’malaprajñō mērāvēkāntasusthitam | papraccha pitaraṁ bhaktyā kṛṣṇadvaipāyanaṁ munim || 13 ||
Translation
One day the clear-minded one asked his father, the sage Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana, with devotion, as he sat in solitude on Mount Meru:
Word by word
- ēkadā
- one day
- sō
- (saḥ) he
- amala
- clear
- prajñō
- (prajñaḥ) minded one
- mērāv
- (merau) on Mount Meru
- ēkānta
- in solitude
- susthitam
- as he sat
- papraccha
- asked
- pitaraṁ
- his father
- bhaktyā
- with devotion
- kṛṣṇadvaipāyanaṁ
- Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana
- munim
- the sage
Meaning
Śuka goes to his father. The setting is Meru, the world-mountain, in a solitary place (ekānta); the father is named in full, Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana, Vyāsa, the arranger of the Vedas. Śuka asks "with devotion" (bhaktyā). He does not come to test his father or to argue; he comes as a son and a student. Even the one whose mind is clear (amala-prajña) still asks. The reader may note that the first step out of private doubt is to ask someone who knows.