तम् ह उवाच न एतत् अब्रह्मणः विवक्तुम् अर्हति समिधम् सोम्य आहर उप त्वा नेष्ये न सत्यात् अगाः इति तम् उपनीय कृशानाम् अबलानाम् चतुःशताः गाः निराकृत्य उवाच इमाः सोम्य अनुसंव्रज इति ताः अभिप्रस्थापयन् उवाच न असहस्रेण आवर्तेय इति सः ह वर्षगणम् प्रोवास ताः यदा सहस्रम् सम्पेदुः
tam ha uvāca na etat abrahmaṇaḥ vivaktum arhati samidham somya āhara upa tvā neṣye na satyāt agāḥ iti tam upanīya kṛśānām abalānām catuḥśatāḥ gāḥ nirākṛtya uvāca imāḥ somya anusaṃvraja iti tāḥ abhiprasthāpayan uvāca na asahasreṇa āvarteya iti saḥ ha varṣagaṇam provāsa tāḥ yadā sahasram sampeduḥ
He said to him: "No non-brāhmaṇa could explain it so. Fetch fuel, my dear: I shall receive you [as a pupil] — you have not departed from the truth." Having received him, he picked out four hundred lean, feeble cows and said: "Follow after these, my dear." Driving them off, [Satyakāma] said: "I shall not return until there are a thousand." And he lived away [with them] for years; and when they had become a thousand…
4722788beef2 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:16:32 PM UTC
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Gautama's verdict is for all ages: naitad abrāhmaṇo vivaktum arhati — "no non-brāhmaṇa could explain it so": samidhaṁ somyāhara — "fetch fuel, my dear" (the samidh is the token of acceptance!): upa tvā neṣye na satyād agāḥ — "I shall receive you: you have not departed from the truth"! Brahminhood is attested not by a gotra but by truth: he who did not lie where a lie promised everything and the truth threatened everything is a brāhmaṇa in essence: satya is the pedigree of the soul (the Muṇḍaka: "truth conquers"!).
And at once, obedience: four hundred kṛśānām abalānām — "lean, feeble" cows: go and herd them! And the pupil's answer shows the teacher was not mistaken: nāsahasreṇāvarteya — "I shall not return without a thousand!": the boy trebles his own task: out of a sickly herd, a thousand! sa ha varṣa-gaṇaṁ provāsa — "and he lived away [with them] for years": years of silent herding far from his teacher — that is Satyakāma's academy: truth opened the door, and faithfulness in a small thing will carry him further: now, with the herd a thousand strong, nature itself will speak to him.