SB 10.45.31 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

प्रभवौ सर्वविद्यानां सर्वज्ञौ जगदीश्वरौ । नान्यसिद्धामलं ज्ञानं गूहमानौ नरेहितै: ॥ ३० ॥ अथो गुरुकुले वासमिच्छन्तावुपजग्मतु: । काश्यं सान्दीपनिं नाम ह्यवन्तिपुरवासिनम् ॥ ३१ ॥

Verse text

prabhavau sarva-vidyānāṁ sarva-jṣau jagad-īśvarau nānya-siddhāmalaṁ jṣānaṁ gūhamānau narehitaiḥ atho gurukule vāsam icchantāv upajagmatuḥ kāśyaṁ sāndīpaniṁ nāma hy avanti-pura-vāsinam

Synonyms

prabhavau — They who were the origin ; sarva — of all varieties ; vidyānām — of knowledge ; sarva — jṣau — omniscient ; jagat — īśvarau — the Lords of the universe ; na — not ; anya — from any other source ; siddha — achieved ; amalam — impeccable ; jṣānam — knowledge ; gūhamānau — hiding ; nara — humanlike ; īhitaiḥ — by Their activities ; atha u — then ; guru — of the spiritual master ; kule — in the school ; vāsam — residence ; icchantau — desiring ; upajagatuḥ — They approached ; kāśyam — the native of Kāśī (Benares) ; sāndīpanim nāma — named Sāndīpani ; hi — indeed ; avanti — pura — in the city of Avantī (modern Ujjain) ; vāsinam — living .

Translation

Concealing Their innately perfect knowledge by Their humanlike activities, those two omniscient Lords of the universe, Themselves the origin of all branches of knowledge, next desired to reside at the school of a spiritual master. Thus They approached Sāndīpani Muni, a native of Kāsī living in the city of Avantī.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Concealing Their innately perfect knowledge by Their humanlike activities, those two omniscient Lords of the universe, Themselves the origin of all branches of knowledge, next desired to reside at the school of a spiritual master. Thus They approached Sāndīpani Muni, a native of Kāsī living in the city of Avantī. KB 10.45.30-32 Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all education and knowledge. There was no need for Them to accept a spiritual master, or ācārya, yet for the instruction of ordinary men They also accepted a spiritual master for advancement in spiritual knowledge. It is customary, after being initiated in the Gāyatrī mantra, for one to live away from home for some time under the care of the ācārya, to be trained in spiritual life. During this period, one has to work under the spiritual master as an ordinary menial servant. There are many rules and regulations for a brahmacārī living under the care of an ācārya, and Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma strictly followed those regulative principles while living under the instruction of their spiritual master, Sāndīpani Muni, who was a resident of Avantīpura, in the northern Indian district of Ujjain. According to scriptural injunctions, a spiritual master should be respected and regarded on an equal level with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma exactly followed those principles with great devotion and underwent the regulations of brahmacarya.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Though they were the origin of all knowledge, they desired to live in a gurukula. Mounting a chariot they went to Sāndīpani who was born in Kāśī.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Though they were masters of all knowledge they went to the gurukula to teach others. After that, or for that reason (atha), they desired to go the gurukula. At the time of the upanāyanam they did not have this desire since it would cause pain from separation and was of no particular use. They went to the guru’s āśrama by chariot. That is mentioned later. He was born in Kāśī. Thus he studied all scriptures there. Sandīpani means the son of he who reveals all knowledge. Avantīpura was situated between Mathurā and Dvārakā. Thus he chose that place.