उपनिषद् · Mahā 2.16
॥
देवनागरी
एवं पृष्टेन मुनिना व्यासेनाखिलमात्मजे यथावदखिलं प्रोक्तं वक्तव्यं विदितात्मना
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
evaṃ pṛṣṭena muninā vyāsenākhilamātmaje yathāvadakhilaṃ proktaṃ vaktavyaṃ viditātmanā
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
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
अनुवाद
So asked, the sage Vyāsa, knower of the Ātman, told his son everything as it is — all that is to be told.
संस्करण
f6880d6ad9d3 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
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.