स होवाच भगवन्तं वा अहमेभिः सर्वैरार्त्विज्यैः पर्यैषिषं भगवतो वा अहमवित्त्यान्यानवृषि ॥ १.११.२ ॥
sa hovāca bhagavantaṃ vā ahamebhiḥ sarvairārtvijyaiḥ paryaiṣiṣaṃ bhagavato vā ahamavittyānyānavṛṣi || 1.11.2 ||
2. He [the prince] said: ‘I looked for you, revered sir, to give you all the work of the priests. As I could not find you, I entrusted the work to other [brāhmins]’.
Word-for-word explanation:
Saḥ ha uvāca, he [the prince] said; aham, I; bhagavantam, you, revered sir; vai ebhiḥ sarvaiḥ ārtvijyaiḥ, for all the work of the priests; paryaiṣiṣam, looked for; bhagavataḥ, you, sir; avittyā, not being able to locate; aham vai anyān avṛṣi, I chose others.
Commentary:
The prince had obviously heard of Uṣasti’s reputation as a versatile scholar, and had wanted to give the responsibility of the sacrifice to him. As he could not find him, however, he had no option but to entrust the work to other brāhmins.