SB 5.9.8 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

पितर्युपरते भ्रातर एनमतत्प्रभावविदस्त्रय्यां विद्यायामेव पर्यवसितमतयो न परविद्यायां जडमतिरिति भ्रातुरनुशासननिर्बन्धान्न्यवृत्सन्त ॥ ८ ॥

Verse text

pitary uparate bhrātara enam atat-prabhāva-vidas trayyāṁ vidyāyām eva paryavasita-matayo na para-vidyāyāṁ jaḍa-matir iti bhrātur anuśāsana-nirbandhān nyavṛtsanta.

Synonyms

pitari uparate — after the death of the father ; bhrātaraḥ — the stepbrothers ; enam — unto this Bharata (Jaḍa Bharata) ; a — tat — prabhāva — vidaḥ — without understanding his exalted position ; trayyām — of the three Vedas ; vidyāyām — in the matter of material ritualistic knowledge ; eva — indeed ; paryavasita — settled ; matayaḥ — whose minds ; na — not ; para — vidyāyām — in the transcendental knowledge of spiritual life (devotional service) ; jaḍa — matiḥ — most dull intelligence ; iti — thus ; bhrātuḥ — their brother (Jaḍa Bharata) ; anuśāsana — nirbandhāt — from the endeavor to teach ; nyavṛtsanta — stopped .

Translation

After the father died, the nine stepbrothers of Jaḍa Bharata, who considered Jaḍa Bharata dull and brainless, abandoned the father’s attempt to give Jaḍa Bharata a complete education. The stepbrothers of Jaḍa Bharata were learned in the three Vedas — the Ṛg Veda, Sāma Veda and Yajur Veda — which very much encourage fruitive activity. The nine brothers were not at all spiritually enlightened in devotional service to the Lord. Consequently they could not understand the highly exalted position of Jaḍa Bharata.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

After the death of their father, the nine brothers, not understanding the position of Bharata, and being knowledgeable of the three Vedas but not knowing the highest truth, gave up trying to teach Bharata, thinking that he was dull-witted. When the father who desired to teach him died, they desired to stop teaching him. Or nyavṛtsanta can be an aorist form: they gave up trying to teach him. They were not as determined to teach him as their father was. He was free of bodily identification of the dualities of happiness and distressed caused by respect or disrespect.