मार्कण्डेयोऽथ मौद्गल्यो वामदेवश्च काश्यपः।
कात्यायनो गौतमश्च जाबालिश्च महायशाः॥
एते द्विजाः सहामात्यैः पृथग्वाचमुदीरयन्।
वसिष्ठमेवाभिमुखाः श्रेष्ठं राजपुरोहितम्॥
mārkaṇḍeyo ’tha maudgalyo vāmadevaś ca kāśyapaḥ
kātyāyano gautamaś ca jābāliś ca mahā-yaśāḥ
ete dvijāḥ sahāmātyaiḥ pṛthag vācam udīrayan
vasiṣṭham evābhimukhāḥ śreṣṭhaṁ rāja-purohitam
mārkaṇḍeyaḥ atha = Mārkaṇḍeya; maudgalyaḥ = Maudgalya; vāmadevaḥ ca = Vāmadeva; kāśyapaḥ = Kāśyapa; kātyāyanaḥ = Kātyāyana; gautamaḥ ca = Gautama; jābāliḥ = Jābālī; ca = and; mahā-yaśāḥ = illustrious; ete = these; dvijāḥ = brāhmaṇas; saha āmātyaiḥ = with the ministers [and then]; pṛthak = individually; vācam udīrayan = discussed; vasiṣṭham eva = Vasiṣṭha; abhimukhāḥ = turned; śreṣṭham = to the senior most; rāja-purohitam = royal priest.
These illustrious brāhmaṇas—Mārkaṇḍeya, Maudgalya, Vāmadeva, Kāśyapa, Kātyāyana, Gautama and Jābālī—individually discussed with the ministers [and then] turned to the senior most royal priest Vasiṣṭha.1
1 These brāhmaṇas could not arrive at a satisfactory solution even after discussing with the ministers. Therefore they turned to the sage Vasiṣṭha for guidance.