SB 1.4.3 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

कस्मिन् युगे प्रवृत्तेयं स्थाने वा केन हेतुना । कुत: सञ्चोदित: कृष्ण: कृतवान् संहितां मुनि: ॥ ३ ॥

Verse text

kasmin yuge pravṛtteyaṁ sthāne vā kena hetunā kutaḥ saṣcoditaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ kṛtavān saṁhitāṁ muniḥ

Synonyms

kasmin — in which ; yuge — period ; pravṛttā — was begun ; iyam — this ; sthāne — in the place ; vā — or ; kena — on what ; hetunā — ground ; kutaḥ — wherefrom ; saṣcoditaḥ — inspired by ; kṛṣṇaḥ — Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa ; kṛtavān — compiled ; saṁhitām — Vedic literature ; muniḥ — the learned .

Translation

In what period and at what place was this first begun, and why was this taken up? From where did Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa, the great sage, get the inspiration to compile this literature?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

In which yuga, in what place, and for what reason did the sage Vyāsa write this work? Who inspired him to write this work?

Purport

Because Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the special contribution of Śrīla Vyāsadeva, there are so many inquiries by the learned Śaunaka Muni. It was known to them that Śrīla Vyāsadeva had already explained the text of the Vedas in various ways up to the Mahābhārata for the understanding of less intelligent women, śūdras and fallen members of the family of twice-born men. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is transcendental to all of them because it has nothing to do with anything mundane. So the inquiries are very intelligent and relevant.

Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Kutaḥ here is a sārva-vibhakti (applicable to all cases of nouns). The suffix taḥ indicates “from.” It means “by whom.” Kṛṣṇa refers to Vyāsa.