इमं व्यासमुनिं तत्र द्वात्रिंशं संस्मराम्यहम् । यथा सम्भवविज्ञानदृशा संदृश्यमानया ॥ २१ ॥
imaṁ vyāsamuniṁ tatra dvātriṁśaṁ saṁsmarāmyaham | yathā sambhavavijñānadṛśā saṁdṛśyamānayā || 21 ||
Translation
In that flow I remember this sage Vyāsa as the thirty-second, as seen by a knowing vision that grasps how things come to be.
Word by word
- imaṁ
- this
- vyāsa
- Vyāsa
- muniṁ
- sage
- tatra
- in that flow
- dvātriṁśaṁ
- as the thirty-second
- saṁsmarāmy
- (saṃsmarāmi) remember
- aham
- I
- yathā
- as
- sambhava
- how things come to be
- vijñāna
- knowing
- dṛśā
- by a vision
- saṁdṛśyamānayā
- seen
Meaning
Now Vasiṣṭha turns to Vyāsa. In the stream of creations, he remembers (saṃsmarāmi) this Vyāsa as the thirty-second (dvātriṃśa). His knowledge comes from a vision that sees how things come to be (sambhava-vijñāna-dṛś). The commentary: by the marks of the composer of the eighteen Purāṇas and the Mahābhārata, his fitting birth, learning and knowledge of Brahman, I remember this all-knowing Vyāsa as the thirty-second wave. A footnote explains: since the beginning of the previous Manu-period to the present one, thirty-two Dvāpara ages have passed, and in each a Vyāsa was born. Rāma asked about one man; Vasiṣṭha answers that this man is one of a series.