SB 1.4.29 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

धृतव्रतेन हि मया छन्दांसि गुरवोऽग्नय: । मानिता निर्व्यलीकेन गृहीतं चानुशासनम् ॥ २८ ॥ भारतव्यपदेशेन ह्याम्नायार्थश्च प्रदर्शित: । द‍ृश्यते यत्र धर्मादि स्त्रीशूद्रादिभिरप्युत ॥ २९ ॥

Verse text

dhṛta-vratena hi mayā chandāṁsi guravo ’gnayaḥ mānitā nirvyalīkena gṛhītaṁ cānuśāsanam bhārata-vyapadeśena hy āmnāyārthaś ca pradarśitaḥ dṛśyate yatra dharmādi strī-śūdrādibhir apy uta

Synonyms

dhṛta — vratena — under a strict disciplinary vow ; hi — certainly ; mayā — by me ; chandāṁsi — the Vedic hymns ; guravaḥ — the spiritual masters ; agnayaḥ — the sacrificial fire ; mānitāḥ — properly worshiped ; nirvyalīkena — without pretense ; gṛhītam ca — also accepted ; anuśāsanam — traditional discipline ; bhārata — the Mahābhārata ; vyapadeśena — by compilation of ; hi — certainly ; āmnāya — arthaḥ — import of disciplic succession ; ca — and ; pradarśitaḥ — properly explained ; dṛśyate — by what is necessary ; yatra — where ; dharma — ādiḥ — the path of religion ; strī — śūdra — ādibhiḥ api — even by women, śūdras, etc. ; uta — spoken .

Translation

I have, under strict disciplinary vows, unpretentiously worshiped the Vedas, the spiritual masters and the altar of sacrifice. I have also abided by the rulings and have shown the import of disciplic succession through the explanation of the Mahābhārata, by which even women, śūdras and others [friends of the twice-born] can see the path of religion.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Through the Mahābhārata, in which dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa for the women, śūdras, what to speak of the higher castes, is seen, I have clearly shown the meaning of the Vedas. But still, my soul situated in the body, though powerful with austerity and knowledge by nature, appears incomplete and inferior, even though endowed with power arising from studying the Vedas.

Purport

No one can understand the import of the Vedas without having undergone a strict disciplinary vow and disciplic succession. The Vedas, spiritual masters and sacrificial fire must be worshiped by the desiring candidate. All these intricacies of Vedic knowledge are systematically presented in the Mahābhārata for the understanding of the woman class, the laborer class and the unqualified members of brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya families. In this age, the Mahābhārata is more essential than the original Vedas.

Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

My soul situated in the body (daiyaḥ), though complete with austerity and knowledge (vibhuḥ) by nature (ātmanā), feels incomplete (asampanna); and not only incomplete, but also inferior (asattama) even though endowed with power arising from the excellent results derived by hearing and studying the Vedas. Another version of the text has uśattama (most pleased with). In either case, as part of a compound, the suffix vī can be added with the meaning “possessing.”