vyÄsa uvÄca
bhiká¹£ubhir vipravasite
vijñÄnÄdeá¹£á¹á¹›bhis tava
vartamÄno vayasy Ädye
tataḥ kim akarod bhavÄn
vyÄsaḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ« VyÄsadeva said; bhiká¹£ubhiḥ - by the great mendicants; vipravasite - having departed for other places; vijñÄna - scientific knowledge in transcendence; Ädeá¹£á¹á¹›bhiḥ - those who had instructed; tava - of your; vartamÄnaḥ - present; vayasi - of the duration of life; Ädye - before the beginning of; tataḥ - after that; kim - what; akarot - did; bhavÄn - your good self.
VyÄsadeva himself was the disciple of NÄradajÄ«, and therefore it was natural to be anxious to hear what NÄrada did after initiation from the spiritual masters. He wanted to follow in NÄrada’s footsteps in order to attain to the same perfect stage of life. This desire to inquire from the spiritual master is an essential factor to the progressive path. This process is technically known as sad-dharma-pá¹›cchÄ.