Text 29
śrī-vasudeva uvāca
namo vaḥ sarva-devebhya
ṛṣayaḥ śrotum arhatha
karmaṇā karma-nirhāro
yathā syān nas tad ucyatām
śrī-vasudevaḥ uvāca — Śrī Vasudeva said; namaḥ — obeisances; vaḥ — to you; sarva — all; devebhyaḥ — (who comprise) the demigods; ṛṣayaḥ — O sages; śrotum arhatha — please listen; karmaṇā — by material work; karma — of (previous) work; nirhāraḥ — the purging; yathā — how; syāt — there may be; naḥ — to us; tat — that; ucyatām — please say.
Śrī Vasudeva said: Obeisances to you, the residence of all the demigods. Please hear me, O sages. Kindly tell us how the reactions of one’s work can be counteracted by further work.
Here Vasudeva addresses the sages as “the residence of all the demigods.” His statement is confirmed in the authoritative śruti-mantras, which declare, yāvatīr vai devatās tāḥ sarvā veda-vidi brāhmaṇe vasanti: “Whatever demigods exist, all reside in a brāhmaṇa who knows the Veda.”