Devanagari
श्रीशुक उवाच
नाभागो नभगापत्यं यं ततं भ्रातर: कविम् ।
यविष्ठं व्यभजन् दायं ब्रह्मचारिणमागतम् ॥ १ ॥
Verse text
śrī-śuka uvāca
nābhāgo nabhagāpatyaṁ
yaṁ tataṁ bhrātaraḥ kavim
yaviṣṭhaṁ vyabhajan dāyaṁ
brahmacāriṇam āgatam
Synonyms
śrī
—
śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
;
nābhāgaḥ
—
Nābhāga
;
nabhaga
—
apatyam — was the son of Mahārāja Nabhaga
;
yam
—
unto whom
;
tatam
—
the father
;
bhrātaraḥ
—
the elder brothers
;
kavim
—
the learned
;
yaviṣṭham
—
the youngest
;
vyabhajan
—
divided
;
dāyam
—
the property
;
brahmacāriṇam
—
having accepted the life of a brahmacārī perpetually ( naiṣṭhika )
;
āgatam
—
returned .
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: The son of Nabhaga named Nābhāga lived for a long time at the place of his spiritual master. Therefore, his brothers thought that he was not going to become a gṛhastha and would not return. Consequently, without providing a share for him, they divided the property of their father among themselves. When Nābhāga returned from the place of his spiritual master, they gave him their father as his share.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: The brothers gave to their youngest, learned brother Nābhāga their father Nabhaga as his share of the property when he returned from brahmacārī life
The Fourth Chapter tells the story of Nabhaga and Ambarīṣa, how a demon arose from Durvāsā’s hair and how Durvāsā was burned by the cakra. Nabhaga’s son was Nābhāga. His brothers gave his father as his share of property to this youngest, learned brother when he returned from brahmacārī life. There was no property to give. Thinking he had taken lifelong brahmacārya, they had already divided their father’s property before he returned.
Purport
There are two kinds of
brahmacārīs.
One may return home, marry and become a householder, whereas the other, known as
bṛhad-vrata,
takes a vow to remain a
brahmacārī
perpetually. The
bṛhad-vrata brahmacārī
does not return from the place of the spiritual master; he stays there, and later he directly takes
sannyāsa.
Because Nābhāga did not return from the place of his spiritual master, his brothers thought that he had taken
bṛhadvrata-brahmacarya.
Therefore, they did not preserve his share, and when he returned they gave him their father as his share.