Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.10.16

kas tvam nigūdhaś carasi dvijānām

bibharshi sūtram katamo 'vadhūtah

kasyāsi kutratya ihāpi kasmāt

kshemāya naś ced asi nota śuklah

SYNONYMS

kah tvam — who are you; nigūdhah — very much covered; carasi — you move within this world; dvijānām — among the brāhmanas or saintly persons; bibharshi — you also wear; sūtram — the sacred thread belonging to the first-class brāhmanas; katamah — which; avadhūtah — highly elevated person; kasya asi — whose are you (whose disciple or son are you); kutratyah — from where; iha api — here in this place; kasmāt — for what purpose; kshemāya — for the benefit; nah — of us; cet — if; asi — you are; na uta — or not; śuklah — the personality of the pure mode of goodness (Kapiladeva).

TRANSLATION

King Rahūgana said: O brāhmana, you appear to be moving in this world very much covered and unknown to others. Who are you? Are you a learned brāhmana and saintly person? I see that you are wearing a sacred thread. Are you one of those exalted, liberated saints such as Dattātreya and other highly advanced, learned scholars? May I ask whose disciple you are? Where do you live? Why have you come to this place? Is your mission in coming here to do good for us? Please let me know who you are.

PURPORT

Mahārāja Rahūgana was very anxious to receive further enlightenment in Vedic knowledge because he could understand that Jada Bharata belonged to a brāhmana family either by disciplic succession or by birth in a brāhmana dynasty. As stated in the Vedas: tad vijñānārtham sa gurum evābhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. Rahūgana was accepting Jada Bharata as a guru, but a guru must prove his position not only by wearing a sacred thread but by advancing knowledge in spiritual life. It is also significant that Rahūgana asked Jada Bharata which family he belonged to. There are two types of families — one according to dynasty and the other according to disciplic succession. In either way, one can be enlightened. The word śuklah refers to a person in the mode of goodness. If one wants to receive spiritual knowledge, he must approach a bona fide brāhmana-guru, either in the disciplic succession or in a family of learned brāhmanas.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness