Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.90.41
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
ācāryāḥ
—
teachers, preceptors
From ā + √car — to walk, conduct. The ācārya is one who teaches by walking the path himself. Gauḍīya line: Madhva, Caitanya, the Six Gosvāmīs, Prabhupāda. Verse 90.41 anchors ācārya-paramparā as a Yādava institution.
-
kumārāṇām
—
of the children
Plural of kumāra — boy, young one. The Yadu education is for kumāras — young ones formed in dharma before adulthood hardens. Gauḍīyas: childhood is the seedbed; bhakti planted early roots deepest (compare Prahlāda).
-
śrutam
—
heard
Past participle of √śru. Śuka prefaces the staggering number with 'I have heard.' Bhāgavatam authorizes itself through śruti-paramparā — what was heard from authoritative speakers is given as authoritative. Knowledge by hearing, not by reasoning.
The teachers (acaryah) for the thousands of children (sahasranam) numbered 30,008,800.
The reason they cannot be counted is give. For every thousand students there was one teacher. This is well known. Instead of śrutam sometimes śrutiḥ is seen.
The reason for inability to count the members is given. Ācāryāḥ means teachers. Śrutam means that actually the number was more or it is famous.
- What teaching investment in my children, or in my own learning, do I underfund?
- Where could I rebalance resources toward education over other goods?
Thirty-eight million eight hundred thousand teachers for the Yadu children. The Vaiṣṇava household is built around education in dharma; even at the level of dynastic infrastructure, the priority is shaped by śāstra.
Earlier in this canto (SB 10.45) Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma went to Avantī to study under Sāndīpani Muni — completing the sixty-four arts in sixty-four days. Bhagavān submitted to a teacher's instruction, then offered guru-dakṣiṇā by retrieving the muni's drowned son from Saṁyamanī.
Verse 90.41's 38.8 million ācāryas extend this pattern: Kṛṣṇa, who Himself sat at a guru's feet, ensures every Yādava child does the same. Gauḍīyas: even Bhagavān modeled gurukula; the dynasty inherits the discipline.
My note
Source: vedabase.io