Upanishads · Mahā 2.18
॥
Devanāgarī
व्यासोऽपि भगवान्बुद्ध्वा पुत्राभिप्रायमीदृशम् प्रत्युवाच पुनः पुत्रं नाहं जानामि तत्त्वतः
Transliteration (IAST)
vyāso'pi bhagavānbuddhvā putrābhiprāyamīdṛśam pratyuvāca punaḥ putraṃ nāhaṃ jānāmi tattvataḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
व्यासः अपि भगवान् बुद्ध्वाvyāsaḥ api bhagavān buddhvāand the lord Vyāsa, having perceived; and the venerable Vyāsa, discerning
पुत्र-अभिप्रायम् ईदृशम्putra-abhiprāyam īdṛśamsuch a disposition of his son; this bent of his son's mind
प्रत्युवाच पुनः पुत्रम्pratyuvāca punaḥ putramanswered his son again; spoke to his son once more in reply
न अहम् जानामि तत्त्वतःna aham jānāmi tattvataḥ“I do not know it in truth”; “I do not know it in its essence”
Translation
And the venerable Vyāsa, perceiving such a disposition in his son, answered him again: “I do not know this in truth.”
Version
bee23533c760 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Vyāsa says: I do not know.
This is said by the one whom the book two verses earlier named viditātmā — the knower of the Ātman. And said after he “expounded everything as it is”.
Literally it is untrue — and the book set the two verses side by side on purpose, that the reader see it. Vyāsa is not confessing ignorance; he is laying down a role which in his son's eyes no longer works anyway.
The underside is simple and human. A son will not believe his father. Too close, too habitual, too much “one's own”. He who grew up beside knowledge takes it for household ware.
So Vyāsa does the only thing he can: he sends him away. And sends him, note, to a king — to a layman, a man of another estate and another way of life.
In this refusal there is more teacherhood than in any speech. The true preceptor knows how to say: not from me.