Shloka 4
Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)
एतं नः संशयं सौते छिन्धि गुहां सनातनम् | त्वया नारायणकथा: श्रुता वै धर्मसंहिता:
etān naḥ saṁśayaṁ saute chindhi guhāṁ sanātanīm | tvayā nārāyaṇa-kathāḥ śrutā vai dharma-saṁhitāḥ, sūta-nandana ||
Ô Sauti, dissipe notre doute—une perplexité ancienne et profonde, tapie au cœur. Toi, ô fils du Sūta, tu as certes entendu maints récits de Nārāyaṇa en accord avec le dharma ; aussi, tranche pour nous cette incertitude secrète.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
A sincere seeker should bring hidden, long-standing doubts into the open and request clarification from a qualified transmitter of dharma; narratives of Nārāyaṇa are presented as ethically authoritative guides capable of resolving such uncertainty.
Śaunaka addresses Sauti and urges him to remove a persistent, inward doubt. He grounds his request in Sauti’s credibility, noting that Sauti has heard many dharma-consistent accounts about Nārāyaṇa and is therefore fit to answer.