तान्होवाच ब्राह्मणा भगवन्तो यो वो ब्रह्मिष्ठः स एता गा उदजतामिति ।ते ह ब्राह्मणा न दधृषुरथ ह याज्ञवल्क्यः स्वमेव ब्रह्मचारिणमुवाचैताः सोम्योदज सामश्रवा३ इति ता होदाचकार ते ह ब्राह्मणाश्चुक्रुधुः कथं नो ब्रह्मिष्ठो ब्रुवीतेत्यथ ह जनकस्य वैदेहस्य होताश्वलो बभूव स हैनं पप्रच्छ त्वं नु खलु नो याज्ञवल्क्य ब्रह्मिष्ठोऽसी३ इति स हो-
In plain words
Janaka said to them, 'Reverend brāhmaṇas, whichever of you is the most learned in brahman — let him simply drive these cows away.' None of the brāhmaṇas dared to move. Then Yājñavalkya turned to his own student, a young celibate scholar, and said, 'Go on, dear boy — drive them off, Sāmaśravas.' And the boy drove them off. The other brāhmaṇas were furious: 'How can he call himself the most learned among us?' Now, Janaka's own household priest, the Hotṛ, was a man named Aśvala. He turned to Yājñavalkya and asked him directly, 'So, Yājñavalkya — are you really claiming to be the most learned among us?' And he —
Close to the Sanskrit
He said to them: 'Reverend brāhmaṇas, whoever among you is most learned in brahman, let him drive off these cows' — thus. Those brāhmaṇas indeed did not dare. Then indeed Yājñavalkya said to his own pupil, the brahmacārin: 'Dear one, drive these off, Sāmaśravas' — thus. He indeed drove them off. Those brāhmaṇas indeed became angry: 'How should he declare himself the most learned among us?' Now indeed, the Hotṛ priest of Janaka Vaideha was Aśvala. He indeed asked him: 'Are you then, indeed, O Yājñavalkya, the most learned among us?' — thus. He then —