Devanagari
मायां विविदिषन् विष्णोर्मायेशस्य महामुनि: ।
महाभागवतो राजन् पितरं पर्यतोषयत् ॥ ४२ ॥
Verse text
māyāṁ vividiṣan viṣṇor
māyeśasya mahā-muniḥ
mahā-bhāgavato rājan
pitaraṁ paryatoṣayat
Synonyms
māyām
—
energies
;
vividiṣan
—
desiring to know
;
viṣṇoḥ
—
of the Personality of Godhead
;
māyā
—
īśasya — of the master of all energies
;
mahā
—
muniḥ — the great sage
;
mahā
—
bhāgavataḥ — the first-class devotee of the Lord
;
rājan
—
O King
;
pitaram
—
unto his father
;
paryatoṣayat
—
very much pleased .
Translation
Nārada very much pleased his father and desired to know all about the energies of Viṣṇu, the master of all energies, for Nārada was the greatest of all sages and greatest of all devotees, O King.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Nārada, the dearest to Brahmā among all his sons, was devoted to his father, and obedient. O King! This great devotee, this great sage, desiring to understand the māyā of Viṣṇu, the master of māyā, satisfied his father by his proper conduct, respect and sense control.
Purport
Lord Brahmā, being the creator of all living beings in the universe, is originally the father of several well-known sons, like Dakṣa, the
catuḥ-sanas,
and Nārada. In three departments of human knowledge disseminated by the
Vedas,
namely fruitive work (
karma-kāṇḍa
), transcendental knowledge (
jṣāna-kāṇḍa
) and devotional service (
upāsanā-kāṇḍa
), Devarṣi Nārada inherited from his father Brahmā devotional service, whereas Dakṣa inherited from his father fruitive work, and Sanaka, Sanātana, etc., inherited from their father information about
jṣāna-kāṇḍa,
or transcendental knowledge. But out of them all, Nārada is described here as the most beloved son of Brahmā because of good behavior, obedience, meekness and readiness to render service unto the father. And Nārada is famous as the greatest of all sages because of his being the greatest of all devotees. Nārada is the spiritual master of many famous devotees of the Lord. He is the spiritual master of Prahlāda, Dhruva and Vyāsa, down to the forest animal hunter Kirāta. His only business is to turn everyone to the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Therefore all these features of Nārada make him the dearmost son of his father, and all this is due to Nārada’s being a first-class devotee of the Lord. The devotees are always anxious to know more and more about the Supreme Lord, the master of all energies. As confirmed in the
Bhagavad-gītā
(10.9)
:
mac-cittā mad-gata-prāṇā
bodhayantaḥ parasparam
kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ
tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca
The Supreme Lord is unlimited, and His energies are also unlimited. No one can know them completely. Brahmājī, being the greatest living entity within this universe and being directly instructed by the Lord, must know more than anyone within this universe, although such knowledge may not be complete. Thus it is the duty of everyone to ask about the unlimited Lord from the spiritual master in the disciplic succession of Brahmā, which descends from Nārada to Vyāsa, from Vyāsa to Śukadeva and so on.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Riktha means inheritance. Rikthādāna means a son, who inherits the wealth of the father. Nārada was the dearest son of Brahmā. Among the wealth of karma-yoga, jṣāna-yoga and bhakti-yoga belonging to Brahmā, Dakṣa and others obtained karma-yoga. The Kumāras obtained jṣāna-yoga. Nārada obtained bhakti-yoga, because of his outstanding qualities. Anuvrataḥ means that he was devoted to his father.
Māyām refers to the material energy, or to the mercy of the Lord. Nārada desired to understand the variegated nature of māyā. Viṣṇu is the master of material māyā. Or māyeśasya can mean “of he who controls everything by mercy (māyā).”