HV 31.1
व्यापिनो देवदेवस्य संभवं वक्तुम् अर्हसि । प्रश्नभारो महांस् तात त्वयोक्तः शार्ङ्गधन्वनि । यथाशक्ति तु वक्ष्यामि श्रूयतां वैष्णवं यशः ॥
vyāpino deva-devasya saṃbhavaṃ vaktum arhasi | praśna-bhāro mahāṃs tāta tvayoktaḥ śārṅga-dhanvani | yathā-śakti tu vakṣyāmi śrūyatāṃ vaiṣṇavaṃ yaśaḥ
'You must tell the origin of the all-pervading Deva-deva.' A heavy burden of question, dear one, has been asked by you of the bearer-of-Śārṅga. As best I can I shall tell it — let the Vaiṣṇava glory be heard.
The Living Words
*Vyāpino deva-devasya saṃbhavaṃ vaktum arhasi*, 'you must tell the origin of the all-pervading Deva-deva'. *Praśna-bhāro mahān*, 'a heavy burden of question'. *Yathā-śakti tu vakṣyāmi*, 'as best I can I shall tell'. *Śrūyatāṃ vaiṣṇavaṃ yaśaḥ*, 'let the Vaiṣṇava glory be heard'.
The Heart of It
The opening is remarkable in its humility: *praśna-bhāro mahān* — 'the burden of your question is great'. Even the narrator (Vaiśampāyana) feels the weight of what the sages have asked in HV 30. The Warkari tradition loves this honest pause. Jñāneśvar's own commentary on the Gītā opens with *yathā-śakti* gestures — 'to the measure of my ability'. The listener is given a frank warning: this cannot be told exhaustively, only *vaiṣṇava-yaśa* can be sung. Knowledge of the Lord is always under-said; the best telling is a hymn that knows itself as partial. *Śrūyatām* — 'let it be heard' — places the whole chapter under *śravaṇa-bhakti*.