Verse 1.12.3

तान्होवाचेहैव मा प्रातरुपसमीयातेति तद्ध बको दाल्भ्यो ग्लावो वा मैत्रेयः प्रतिपालयांचकार ॥ १.१२.३ ॥

tānhovācehaiva mā prātarupasamīyāteti taddha bako dālbhyo glāvo vā maitreyaḥ pratipālayāṃcakāra || 1.12.3 ||

3. [The white dog] replied, ‘All of you meet me here tomorrow morning.’ Baka Dālbhya, who was also known as Glāva Maitreya, waited there too [for the white dog].

Word-for-word explanation:

Tān, to them [the other dogs]; ha uvāca, [the white dog] said; iha eva, here; prātaḥ, tomorrow morning; mā upasamīyāta iti, all of you come to me; bakaḥ dālbhyaḥ glāvaḥ maitreyaḥ vā, Baka, the son of Dalbha, who was also known as Glāva, the son of Mitrā; pratipālayāñcakāra, waited [for the white dog]; tat ha, there.

Commentary:

The smaller dogs were obviously very hungry, so why didn’t the white dog sing immediately? He asked them to come back in the morning because the morning is the best time to sing the udgītha. In the afternoon the sun turns away from us. He is the one who gives us food, and if he has already begun to turn away, it is too late to ask him to give us anything. Morning is the time when we are face to face with him, and that is why morning is the best time to make a request of him.

The sage Baka came early the next morning also and waited for the white dog.