yataḥ sṛṣṭam idaṁ prabho
yat saṁsthaṁ yat paraṁ yac ca
tat tattvaṁ vada tattvataḥ
yat-what; rūpam-the symptoms of manifestation; yat-what; adhiṣṭhānam-background; yataḥ-from where; sṛṣṭam-created; idam-this world; prabho-O my father; yat-in which; saṁstham-conserved; yat-what; param-under control; yat-what are; ca-and; tat-of this; tattvam-the symptoms; vada-please describe; tattvataḥ-factually.
My dear father, please describe factually the symptoms of this manifest world. What is its background? How is it created? How is it conserved? And under whose control is all this being done?
The inquiries by Nārada Muni on the basis of factual cause and effect appear very reasonable. The atheists, however, put forward many self-made theories without any touch of cause and effect. The manifested world, as well as the spirit soul, is still unexplained by the godless atheists through the medium of experimental knowledge, although they have put forward many theories manufactured by their fertile brains. Contrary to such mental speculative theories of creation, however, Nārada Muni wanted to know all the facts of creation in truth, and not by theories.