Upanishads · Mahā 2.16
॥
Devanāgarī
एवं पृष्टेन मुनिना व्यासेनाखिलमात्मजे यथावदखिलं प्रोक्तं वक्तव्यं विदितात्मना
Transliteration (IAST)
evaṃ pṛṣṭena muninā vyāsenākhilamātmaje yathāvadakhilaṃ proktaṃ vaktavyaṃ viditātmanā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
एवम् पृष्टेन मुनिना व्यासेनevam pṛṣṭena muninā vyāsenaso asked, the sage Vyāsa; Vyāsa the silent one, questioned thus
अखिलम् आत्मजे यथावत्akhilam ātmaje yathāvatto his son — everything as it is; to his own-born — wholly and rightly
प्रोक्तम् वक्तव्यम् विदितात्मनाproktam vaktavyam viditātmanāspoke all that is to be spoken, the knower of the Ātman; declared what should be said, he who had known himself
Translation
So asked, the sage Vyāsa, knower of the Ātman, told his son everything as it is — all that is to be told.
Version
f6880d6ad9d3 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Vyāsa's answer the book does not give. It is said only that it was full and true: yathāvat, “as it is”, akhilam, “entire”.
This silence is deliberate. Had the book given Vyāsa's speech, the reader would have set about comparing it with Janaka's and looking for the difference. And there is no difference — that is the whole point of the tale.
Note also the definition of Vyāsa: viditātmā, “one who has known the Ātman”. That is, it was no book-learned man who answered. A knower answered, answered fully, answered his own son.
And still it did not help. The next verse will explain why.