द्वादशाऽल्पधियस्तत्र कुलाकारेहितैः समाः । दश सर्वे समाकाराः शिष्टाः कुलविलक्षणाः ॥ २२ ॥
dvādaśā’lpadhiyastatra kulākārēhitaiḥ samāḥ | daśa sarvē samākārāḥ śiṣṭāḥ kulavilakṣaṇāḥ || 22 ||
Translation
Of these, twelve were of small understanding, alike in family, form and conduct; ten were all alike in form; the rest differed in family.
Word by word
- dvādaśa
- twelve
- alpa
- of small
- dhiyas
- (dhiyaḥ) understanding
- tatra
- of these
- kula
- in family
- ākāra
- form
- īhitaiḥ
- and conduct
- samāḥ
- alike
- daśa
- ten
- sarvē
- all
- samākārāḥ
- alike in form
- śiṣṭāḥ
- the rest
- vilakṣaṇāḥ
- differed
Meaning
Vasiṣṭha sorts the thirty-two Vyāsas. Twelve were "of small understanding" (alpa-dhī), alike in family, form and conduct (kula-ākāra-īhita); ten were alike in every respect of form; the remaining ten were of different families. The commentary reads "small understanding" carefully: not dull, but not having reached the highest of the four grades of knowers of Brahman. The point is not genealogy for its own sake. Even the great sages are not fixed figures; each appearance is a wave with its own character. The Vyāsa in the hall is one of them, and his state need not be the same as another's.