अग्निष्टे पादं वक्तेति स ह श्वोभूते ग आभिप्रस्थापयांचकार ता यत्राभि सायं बभूवुस्तत्राग्निमुपसमाधाय गा उपरुध्य समिधमाधाय पश्चादग्नेः प्राङुपोपविवेश ॥ ४.६.१ ॥
agniṣṭe pādaṃ vakteti sa ha śvobhūte ga ābhiprasthāpayāṃcakāra tā yatrābhi sāyaṃ babhūvustatrāgnimupasamādhāya gā uparudhya samidhamādhāya paścādagneḥ prāṅupopaviveśa || 4.6.1 ||
1. [Then the bull said,] ‘Agni [fire] will tell you about another foot of Brahman.’ The next day Satyakāma collected the cows and drove them towards his teacher’s house. At dusk they arrived at a place [where they halted for the night]. Having confined the cows and collected some fuel, he lit a fire and sat down just behind it facing east.
Word-for-word explanation:
Agniḥ te pādam vaktā iti, Agni [fire] will tell you about [another] foot; saḥ ha śvaḥ-bhūte gāḥ abhiprasthāpayāñcakāra, the next day he led the cows [towards his teacher’s house]; yatra sāyam, when it was dusk; tāḥ abhi-babhūvuḥ, they arrived at a place; tatra agnim upasamādhāya, having made a fire there; gāḥ uparudhya, keeping the cows confined; samidham ādhāya, having collected fuel; paścāt agneḥ, behind the fire; prāk upa-upaviveśa, sat facing the east.
Commentary:
The next day Satyakāma finished his morning rites and then started for the teacher’s house with the cows. They halted for the night at a suitable spot, and after gathering the cows together, Satyakāma lit a fire and sat by it facing east. The bull had told him that Agni (fire) would teach him about another foot of Brahman. He began to wonder what Agni would say and when he would say it. He could not think of anything else.