तत्र क्रियाकाण्डपरास्त्वया पुत्र महाधिया । उपदेश्याः क्रियाकाण्डक्रमेण क्रमशालिना ॥ ४१ ॥
tatra kriyākāṇḍaparāstvayā putra mahādhiyā | upadēśyāḥ kriyākāṇḍakramēṇa kramaśālinā || 41 ||
Translation
There, son, you of great mind and of orderly ways, you must teach those devoted to the path of ritual, following the order of that path.
Word by word
- tatra
- there
- kriyākāṇḍa
- to the path of ritual
- parās
- (parāḥ) those devoted
- tvayā
- by you
- putra
- son
- mahādhiyā
- of great mind
- upadēśyāḥ
- must be taught
- kramēṇa
- following the order
- kramaśālinā
- of orderly ways
Meaning
Now Brahmā turns teacher of teachers, and his first rule is to fit the teaching to the person. The commentary quotes the Gītā at this point: na buddhi-bhedaṁ janayed ajñānāṁ karma-saṅginām, one should not unsettle the minds of those attached to action. Someone whose life is held together by duty and rite is not to be told it is all nothing. That is the point of krama, order, said twice in the verse. Verse 22 said ritual is no means to the crossing, and here the same Brahmā orders it taught. There is no contradiction: a ladder is not the roof, and a person on the ground still needs it.