तत्रासीत्पिङ्गलो गार्ग्यस्त्रिजटो नाम वै द्विजः। उञ्छवृत्तिर्वने नित्यं फालकुद्दाललाङ्गली॥
tatrāsīt piṅgalo gārgyas trijaṭo nāma vai dvijaḥ uñcha-vṛttir vane nityaṁ phāla-kuddāla-lāṅgalī
tatra = there; āsīt = there was; piṅgalaḥ = who had turned tawny due to poverty; gārgyaḥ = descending from Garga Muni’s lineage; trijaṭaḥ = Trijaṭa; nāma vai = named; dvijaḥ = a brāhmaṇa; uñcha-vṛttiḥ = he had taken up uñcha-vṛtti; vane = in the forest; nityam = and he was always; phāla-kuddāla-lāṅgalī = with his axe, spade and plow.
There was a brāhmaṇa descending from Garga Muni’s lineage named Trijaṭa there who had turned tawny due to poverty. He had taken up uñcha-vṛtti and he was always in the forest with his axe, spade and plow.
1 See text 2.24.2 and its note for uñcha-vṛtti.
Uñcha-vṛtti means subsisting by collecting grains one by one.1
In some manuscripts, kṣata-vṛttiḥ appears instead of uñcha-vṛttiḥ which indicates that his livelihood was digging [the earth to gather roots].
It is implied that he was a poor gṛhastha residing in the forest who had come to the city then, by the will of providence.