Text
śrī-śuka uvāca
nābhāgo nabhagāpatyaṁ
yaṁ tataṁ bhrātaraḥ kavim
yaviṣṭhaṁ vyabhajan dāyaṁ
brahmacāriṇam āgatam
Synonyms
sri-sukah uvāca—Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; nabhagah—Nābhāga; nabhaga-apatyam—was the son of Mahārāja Nabhaga; yam—unto whom; tatam—the father; bhrātaraḥ—the elder brothers; kavim—the learned; yaviṣṭham—the youngest; vyabhajan—divided; dayam—the property; brahmacarinam—having accepted the life of a brahmacārī perpetually (naiṣṭhika); agatam—returned. ¶
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: The son of Nabhaga named Nābhāga lived for a long time at the place of his spiritual master. Therefore, his brothers thought that he was not going to become a gṛhastha and would not return. Consequently, without providing a share for him, they divided the property of their father among themselves. When Nābhāga returned from the place of his spiritual master, they gave him their father as his share. ¶
Purport
There are two kinds of brahmacārīs. One may return home, marry and become a householder, whereas the other, known as bṛhad-vrata, takes a vow to remain a brahmacārī perpetually. The bṛhad-vrata brahmacārī does not return from the place of the spiritual master; he stays there, and later he directly takes sannyāsa. Because Nābhāga did not return from the place of his spiritual master, his brothers thought that he had taken bṛhadvrata-brahmacarya. Therefore, they did not preserve his share, and when he returned they gave him their father as his share. ¶