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 ||
ਹੇ ਸੌਤੇ! ਸਾਡੇ ਹਿਰਦੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਟਿਕਿਆ ਇਹ ਸਨਾਤਨ ਤੇ ਗੂੜ੍ਹਾ ਸੰਦੇਹ ਦੂਰ ਕਰੋ। ਤੁਸੀਂ ਧਰਮ-ਸੰਗਤ ਨਾਰਾਇਣ ਦੀਆਂ ਕਥਾਵਾਂ ਬਹੁਤ ਸੁਣੀਆਂ ਹਨ; ਇਸ ਲਈ ਸਾਡੀ ਇਹ ਲੁਕਿਆ ਹੋਇਆ ਸ਼ੰਕਾ ਨਿਵਾਰੋ।
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.