Devanagari
सूत उवाच
द्वैपायनसखस्त्वेवं मैत्रेयो भगवांस्तथा ।
प्राहेदं विदुरं प्रीत आन्वीक्षिक्यां प्रचोदित: ॥ ४ ॥
Verse text
sūta uvāca
dvaipāyana-sakhas tv evaṁ
maitreyo bhagavāṁs tathā
prāhedaṁ viduraṁ prīta
ānvīkṣikyāṁ pracoditaḥ
Synonyms
sūtaḥ uvāca
—
Sūta Gosvāmī said
;
dvaipāyana
—
sakhaḥ — friend of Vyāsadeva
;
tu
—
then
;
evam
—
thus
;
maitreyaḥ
—
Maitreya
;
bhagavān
—
worshipful
;
tathā
—
in that way
;
prāha
—
spoke
;
idam
—
this
;
viduram
—
to Vidura
;
prītaḥ
—
being pleased
;
ānvīkṣikyām
—
about transcendental knowledge
;
pracoditaḥ
—
being asked .
Translation
Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī said: The most powerful sage Maitreya was a friend of Vyāsadeva. Being encouraged and pleased by Vidura’s inquiry about transcendental knowledge, Maitreya spoke as follows.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Sūta said: Maitreya, the friend of Vyāsa, pleased on being asked about knowledge of ātmā, just as you ask me, then spoke as follows to Vidura.
Evam means “just as you sages ask me.” Ānvīkṣikyām means “knowledge about ātmā.”
Purport
Questions and answers are very satisfactorily dealt with when the inquirer is bona fide and the speaker is also authorized. Here Maitreya is considered a powerful sage, and therefore he is also described as
bhagavān.
This word can be used not only for the Supreme Personality of Godhead but for anyone who is almost as powerful as the Supreme Lord. Maitreya is addressed as
bhagavān
because he was spiritually far advanced. He was a personal friend of Dvaipāyana Vyāsadeva, a literary incarnation of the Lord. Maitreya was very pleased with the inquiries of Vidura because they were the inquiries of a bona fide, advanced devotee. Thus Maitreya was encouraged to answer. When there are discourses on transcendental topics between devotees of equal mentality, the questions and answers are very fruitful and encouraging.