स तं होवाच साधु पृष्टं सर्वं निवेदयामि यथाज्ञातमिति । पुनः स तमुवाच कुतस्त्वया ज्ञातमिति । पुनः स तमुवाच षडाननादिति । पुनः स तमुवाच तेनाथ कुतो ज्ञातमिति । पुनः स तमुवाच तेनेशानादिति । पुनः स तमुवाच कथं तस्मात्तेन ज्ञातमिति । पुनः स तमुवाच तदुपासनादिति
sa taṃ hovāca sādhu pṛṣṭaṃ sarvaṃ nivedayāmi yathājñātamiti | punaḥ sa tamuvāca kutastvayā jñātamiti | punaḥ sa tamuvāca ṣaḍānanāditi | punaḥ sa tamuvāca tenātha kuto jñātamiti | punaḥ sa tamuvāca teneśānāditi | punaḥ sa tamuvāca kathaṃ tasmāttena jñātamiti | punaḥ sa tamuvāca tadupāsanāditi
“He said to him: ‘well asked; I shall relate all as it was known to me.’ — ‘Whence was it known to you?’ — ‘From the Six-Faced.’ — ‘And whence was it known to him?’ — ‘By him — from Īśāna.’ — ‘How was it known to him from Him?’ — ‘By worshipping Him.’”
4683c05d837f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Here is an excellent exchange, and its structure deserves examination, for it is, to my mind, the best thing in this book. The teacher says he will relate yathā-jñātam, “as it was known” — that is, not on his own authority. The pupil at once asks: whence was it known? Answer: from ṣaḍ-ānana, “the Six-Faced,” that is, from Skanda-Kārttikeya, the son of Śiva.
The pupil is not satisfied and asks further: and whence did he know it? Answer: from Īśāna, that is, from Śiva. And a third question, the most important of all: how did he know it from Him?
Answer: tad-upāsanāt, “by worshipping Him.” Weigh what is achieved here. The chain is traced back not to a book and not to reasoning, but to worship: the final link turns out to be not “I read it” and not “I reasoned it out,” but “I served, and thereby I knew.”
The Vaiṣṇava side stands on this as on nothing else, and its rule was cited reading Varāha (2.2): tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā, “know this by bowing down, by inquiry, and by service” (Gītā 4.34). Note that the pupil here performs exactly the middle of the three: he inquires, and inquires persistently, three times running. And let us add something else worth holding onto: this persistence is not counted as impertinence.
The teacher did not say “do not ask”; he answered three times and only then set out the teaching. Inquiry is thus a part of obedience, not opposed to it; and that paripraśna stands between bowing and service was discussed reading Śāṭyāyanīya (35).