व्यासोऽपि भगवान्बुद्ध्वा पुत्राभिप्रायमीदृशम् । प्रत्युवाच पुनः पुत्रं नाऽहं जानामि तत्त्वतः ॥ १७ ॥
vyāsō’pi bhagavānbuddhvā putrābhiprāyamīdṛśam | pratyuvāca punaḥ putraṁ nā’haṁ jānāmi tattvataḥ || 17 ||
Translation
The blessed Vyāsa, seeing his son's mind to be such, answered him again: "I do not know it truly.
Word by word
- vyāsō
- (vyāsaḥ) Vyāsa
- api
- too
- bhagavān
- the blessed
- buddhvā
- seeing
- putra
- his son's
- abhiprāyam
- mind
- īdṛśam
- to be such
- pratyuvāca
- answered
- punaḥ
- again
- putraṁ
- him
- na
- not
- ahaṁ
- I
- jānāmi
- do know
- tattvataḥ
- truly
Meaning
Vyāsa understands at once (buddhvā) what is happening in his son. His answer is a stroke of skill: "I do not know it in truth" (nāhaṃ jānāmi tattvataḥ). The greatest knower of his age says he does not know. He does not argue with his son or insist on his own authority, since that would only feed the son's sense that he already knows. Instead he steps aside and sends Śuka to someone else. A wise teacher knows when he is not the right one for a student, and has no pride about saying so. The commentary on the following verses adds that the purpose was to bring Śuka to a teacher whose words he would trust.