अज्ञतातज्ज्ञते पूर्वं वक्तुर्निर्णीय कार्यतः । यः करोति नरः प्रश्नं पृच्छकः स महामतिः ॥ ४७ ॥
ajñatātajjñatē pūrvaṁ vakturnirṇīya kāryataḥ | yaḥ karōti naraḥ praśnaṁ pṛcchakaḥ sa mahāmatiḥ || 47 ||
Translation
One who asks only after first determining from the speaker's conduct whether he is ignorant or a knower: that person is a questioner of great mind.
Word by word
- ajñatā
- ignorant
- tajjñatē
- or a knower
- pūrvaṁ
- first
- vaktur
- (vaktuḥ) the speaker's
- nirṇīya
- determining
- kāryataḥ
- from conduct
- yaḥ
- one who
- karōti
- makes
- naraḥ
- person
- praśnaṁ
- a question
- pṛcchakaḥ
- a questioner
- sa
- that
- mahāmatiḥ
- of great mind
Meaning
Kāryataḥ, from his works: both the commentary and another one say from his dealings and conduct. So a teacher is to be tested, and the testing is the student's duty. This runs against a common idea of faith. Nothing here recommends a suspicious heart, since reverence was asked at verse 43. But the reverence comes after the examination. The test is what the teacher is like in ordinary life, not what he says of himself.