Bhashya
शिष्यैर्नीयमानानि गृहान्प्रत्यपजह्रुः अपहृतवन्तः-- किं नि-मित्तम्- अन्यत् धनं नीयमानं मन्यमानाः ।पूर्ववृत्ताह्याख्यायिकेह सूचिता ।अष्टाध्याय्यां किल शाकल्येनयाज्ञवल्क्यस्य समानान्त एव संवादो निर्वृत्तः; तत्रयाज्ञवल्क्येन शापो दत्तः-- 'पुरेऽतिथ्ये मरिष्यसि नतेऽस्थीनिचन गृहान्प्राप्स्यन्ति' इति 'स ह तथैव ममार;तस्य हाप्यन्यन्मन्यमानाः परिमोषिणोऽस्थीन्यपजह्रुः त-स्मान्नोपवादी स्यादुत ह्येवंवित्परो भवतीति' ।सैषा आ-ख्यायिका आचारार्थं सूचिता विद्यास्तुतये च इह ॥
In plain words
Thieves snatched what the disciples were carrying home — mistaking it, of all things, for ordinary loot. Why bring this up? Because it echoes an older story. In the Aṣṭādhyāyī, they say, Śākalya and Yājñavalkya once had a dialogue that ended the same way — Yājñavalkya cursed him: you will die far from home, among strangers, and not even your bones will make it back. And he did die exactly that way; thieves, thinking his bones were something worth stealing, carried them off. So don't go around finding fault with what you don't understand — or the one who actually knows will get the better of you. That's the whole point of telling this story here: a lesson in conduct, and a tribute to real knowledge.
Close to the Sanskrit
They carried off, snatched away, what was being taken by the disciples toward the houses — for what reason? Thinking it to be some other wealth being carried. For a story that had occurred earlier is alluded to here. It is said that in the Aṣṭādhyāyī a dialogue took place between Śākalya and Yājñavalkya, ending in a similar way; there Yājñavalkya pronounced a curse: 'You will die abroad, among strangers, and not even your bones will reach home' — thus. He indeed died just so; and thieves, thinking them to be something else, carried off even his bones. Therefore one should not be a fault-finder, or else one who knows thus becomes superior. This story is alluded to here for the sake of [teaching] conduct, and also in praise of knowledge.