Synonyms tatra—thereupon; aham—I; bhagavān—greatly powerful; vyāsaḥ—the compiler of the Vedas; śiṣyān—unto the disciples; adhāpaye—teach; purā—in the past; catuḥ-śatīm—four hundred; saṁhitām—collection of mantras; te—those; śiṣyāḥ—disciples; pravartitāḥ—propagated; pṛthak—separately.

Translation Thereupon the greatly powerful sage Vyāsa instructed his disciples to compile the four divisions of the Vedas into four hundred thousand mantras, and they propagated them separately.