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puresu—holy places like Ayodhya, Dvaraka and Mathura; punya—piety; upavana—the air; adri—hill; kunjesu—in the orchards; apanka—without sin; toyesu—in the water; sarit—river; sarahsu—lakes; ananta-lingaih—the forms of the Unlimited; samalankrtesu—being so decorated; cacara—executed; tirtha—places of pilgrimage; ayatanesu—holy lands; ananyah—alone or seeing Krsna alone.

He began to travel alone, thinking only of Krsna, through various holy places like Ayodhya, Dvaraka and Mathura. He traveled where the air, hill, orchard, river and lake are all pure and sinless and where the forms of the Unlimited decorate the temples. Thus he performed the pilgrim’s progress.

These arca forms of the Lord may be considered idols by the atheists, but that does not matter for persons like Vidura or His many other servants. The forms of the Lord are mentioned here as ananta-linga. Such forms of the Lord have unlimited potency, the same as that of the Lord Himself. There is no difference between the potencies of the arca and those of the personal forms of the Lord. The example of the postbox and post office may be applied here. The little postboxes distributed all over the city have the same potency as the postal system in general. The duty of the post office is to carry letters from one place to another. If one puts letters in postboxes authorized by the general post office, the function of carrying letters is performed without a doubt. Similarly, the arca-murti can also deliver the same unlimited potency of the Lord as when He is personally present. Vidura, therefore, could see nothing but Krsna in the different arca forms, and ultimately he was able to realize Krsna alone and nothing else.

SB3.1.19

TEXT 19

gam paryatan medhya-vivikta-vrttih

sadapluto ’dhah sayano ’vadhutah

alaksitah svair avadhuta-veso

vratani cere hari-tosanani

gam—earth; paryatan—traversing; medhya—pure; vivikta-vrttih—independent occupation for living; sada—always; aplutah—sanctified; adhah—on the earth; sayanah—lying; avadhutah—without dressing (of the hair, etc.); alaksitah—without being seen; svaih—alone; avadhuta-vesah—dressed like a mendicant; vratani—vows; cere—performed; hari-tosanani—that pleased the Lord.

While so traversing the earth, he simply performed duties to please the Supreme Lord Hari. His occupation was pure and independent. He was constantly sanctified by taking his bath in holy places, although he was in the dress of a mendicant and had no hair dressing nor a bed on which to lie. Thus he was always unseen by his various relatives.

The first and foremost duty of a pilgrim is to satisfy the Supreme Lord Hari. While traveling as a pilgrim, one should not be worried about pleasing society. There is no need to depend on social formalities or occupation or dress. One should remain always absorbed in the function of pleasing the Lord. Thus sanctified by thought and action, one is able to realize the Supreme Lord by the process of a pilgrim’s journey.

SB3.1.20

TEXT 20

ittham vrajan bharatam eva varsam

kalena yavad gatavan prabhasam

tavac chasasa ksitim eka cakram

ekatapatram ajitena parthah

ittham—like this; vrajan—while traveling; bharatam—India; eva—only; varsam—the tract of land; kalena—in due course of time; yavat—when; gatavan—visited; prabhasam—the Prabhasa pilgrimage site; tavat—at that time; sasasa—ruled; ksitim—the world; eka-cakram—by one military force; eka—one; atapatram—flag; ajitena—by the mercy of the unconquerable Krsna; parthah—Maharaja Yudhisthira.

Thus, when he was in the land of Bharatavarsa traveling to all the places of pilgrimage, he visited Prabhasaksetra. At that time Maharaja Yudhisthira was the emperor and held the world under one military strength and one flag.

More than five thousand years ago, while Saint Vidura was traveling the earth as a pilgrim, India was known as Bharatavarsa, as it is known even today. The history of the world cannot give any systematic account for more than three thousand years into the past, but before that the whole world was under the flag and military strength of Maharaja Yudhisthira, who was the emperor of the world. At present there are hundreds and thousands of flags flapping in the United Nations, but during the time of Vidura there was, by the grace of Ajita, Lord Krsna, only one flag. The nations of the world are very eager to again have one state under one flag, but for this they must seek the favor of Lord Krsna, who alone can help us become one worldwide nation.

SB3.1.21

TEXT 21

tatratha susrava suhrd-vinastim

vanam yatha venuja-vahni-samsrayam

samspardhaya dagdham athanusocan

sarasvatim pratyag iyaya tusnim

tatra— there; atha—thereafter; susrava—heard; suhrt—kinsmen; vinastim—all dead; vanam—forest; yatha—as much as; venuja-vahni—fire due to the bamboos; samsrayam—friction with one another; samspardhaya—by violent passion; dagdham—burnt; atha—thus; anusocan—thinking; sarasvatim—the River Sarasvati; pratyak—westward; iyaya—went; tusnim—silently.

At the place of pilgrimage at Prabhasa, it came to his knowledge that all his relatives had died due to violent passion, just as an entire forest burns due to fire produced by the friction of bamboos. After this he proceeded west, where the River Sarasvati flows.

Both the Kauravas and the Yadavas were relatives of Vidura, and Vidura heard of their extinction due to fratricidal war. The comparison of the friction of forest bamboos to that of passionate human societies is appropriate. The whole world is compared to a forest. At any moment there may be a flare-up of fire in the forest due to friction. No one goes to the forest to set it on fire, but due only to friction between bamboos, fire takes place and burns an entire forest. Similarly, in the greater forest of worldly transaction, the fire of war takes place because of the violent passion of the conditioned souls illusioned by the external energy. Such a worldly fire can be extinguished only by the water of the mercy cloud of saints, just as a forest fire can be extinguished only by rains falling from a cloud.

SB3.1.22

TEXT 22

tasyam tritasyosanaso manos ca

prthor athagner asitasya vayoh

tirtham sudasasya gavam guhasya

yac chraddhadevasya sa asiseve

tasyam—on the bank of the River Sarasvati; tritasya—the pilgrimage site named Trita; usanasah—the pilgrimage site named Usana; manoh ca—as also of the pilgrimage site named Manu; prthoh—that of Prthu; atha—thereafter; agneh—that of Agni; asitasya—that of Asita; vayoh—that of Vayu; tirtham—places of pilgrimages; sudasasya—of the name Sudasa; gavam—that of Go; guhasya—that of Guha; yat—thereupon; sraddhadevasya—of the name Sraddhadeva; sah—Vidura; asiseve—duly visited and performed the rituals.

On the bank of the River Sarasvati there were eleven places of pilgrimage, namely, (1) Trita, (2) Usana, (3) Manu, (4) Prthu, (5) Agni, (6) Asita, (7) Vayu, (8) Sudasa, (9) Go, (10) Guha and (11) Sraddhadeva. Vidura visited all of them and duly performed rituals.

SB3.1.23

TEXT 23

anyani ceha dvija-deva-devaih

krtani nanayatanani visnoh

pratyanga-mukhyankita-mandirani

yad-darsanat krsnam anusmaranti

SYNONYMS

anyani—others; ca—also; iha—here; dvija-deva—by the great sages; devaih—and the demigods; krtani—established by; nana—various; ayatanani—various forms; visnoh—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; prati—each and every; anga—part; mukhya—the chief; ankita—marked; mandirani—temple s; yat—which; darsanat—by seeing from a distance; krsnam—the original Personality of Godhead; anusmaranti—constantly remembers.

TRANSLATION

There were also many other temples of various forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Visnu, established by great sages and demigods. These temples were marked with the chief emblems of the Lord, and they reminded one always of the original Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna.

PURPORT

Human society is divided into four social orders of life and four spiritual divisions, applying to each and every individual person. This system is called varnasrama-dharma and has already been discussed in many places in this great literature. The sages, or persons who completely devoted themselves to the spiritual upliftment of the entire human society, were known as dvija-deva, the best amongst the twice-born. The denizens of superior planets, from the moon planet and upwards, were known as devas. Both the dvija-devas and the devas always establish temples of Lord Visnu in His various forms, such as Govinda, Madhusudana, Nrsimha, Madhava, Kesava, Narayana, Padmanabha, Partha-sarathi and many others. The Lord expands Himself in innumerable forms, but all of them are nondifferent from one another. Lord Visnu has four hands, and each hand holds a particular item—either a conchshell, wheel, club or lotus flower. Of these four emblems, the cakra, or wheel, is the chief. Lord Krsna, being the original Visnu form, has only one emblem, namely the wheel, and therefore He is sometimes called the Cakri. The Lord’s cakra is the symbol of the power by which the Lord controls the whole manifestation. The tops of Visnu temples are marked with the symbol of the wheel so that people may have the chance to see the symbol from a very long distance and at once remember Lord Krsna. The purpose of building very high temples is to give people a chance to see them from a distant place. This system is carried on in India whenever a new temple is constructed, and it appears that it is coming down from a time before recorded history. The foolish propaganda by atheists that temples were constructed only in later days is refuted here because Vidura visited these temples at least five thousand years ago, and the temples of Visnu were in existence long, long before Vidura visited them. The great sages and demigods never established statues of men or demigods, but they established temples of Visnu for the benefit of common men, to raise them to the platform of God consciousness.

SB3.1.24

TEXT 24

tatas tv ativrajya surastram rddham

sauvira-matsyan kurujangalams ca

kalena tavad yamunam upetya

tatroddhavam bhagavatam dadarsa

tatah—from there; tu—but; ativrajya—by passing over; surastram—the kingdom of Surat; rddham—very wealthy; sauvira—the kingdom of Sauvira; matsyan—the kingdom of Matsya; kurujangalan—the kingdom of western India up to the Delhi province; ca—also; kalena—in course of time; tavat—as soon as; yamunam—bank of the River Yamuna; upetya—reaching; tatra—there; uddhavam—Uddhava, one of the prominent Yadus; bhagavatam—the great devotee of Lord Krsna; dadarsa—happened to see.

Thereafter he passed through very wealthy provinces like Surat, Sauvira and Matsya and through western India, known as Kurujangala. At last he reached the bank of the Yamuna, where he happened to meet Uddhava, the great devotee of Lord Krsna.

The tract of land comprising about one hundred square miles from modern Delhi to the Mathura district in Uttar Pradesh, including a portion of the Gurgaon district in Punjab (East India), is considered to be the topmost place of pilgrimage in all of India. This land is sacred because Lord Krsna traveled through it many times. From the very beginning of His appearance, He was at Mathura in the house of His maternal uncle Kamsa, and He was reared by His foster father Maharaja Nanda at Vrndavana. There are still many devotees of the Lord lingering there in ecstasy in search of Krsna and His childhood associates, the gopis. It is not that such devotees meet Krsna face to face in that tract of land, but a devotee’s eagerly searching after Krsna is as good as his seeing Him personally. How this is so cannot be explained, but it is factually realized by those who are pure devotees of the Lord. Philosophically, one can understand that Lord Krsna and His remembrance are on the absolute plane and that the very idea of searching for Him at Vrndavana in pure God consciousness gives more pleasure to the devotee than seeing Him face to face. Such devotees of the Lord see Him face to face at every moment, as confirmed in the Brahma-samhita (5.38):

premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti
yam syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

“Those who are in ecstasy of love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Syamasundara [Krsna], see Him always in their hearts due to love and devotional service rendered to the Lord.” Both Vidura and Uddhava were such elevated devotees, and therefore they both came to the bank of the Yamuna and met each other.

SB3.1.25

TEXT 25

sa vasudevanucaram prasantam

brhaspateh prak tanayam pratitam

alingya gadham pranayena bhadram

svanam aprcchad bhagavat-prajanam

sah—he, Vidura; vasudeva—Lord Krsna; anucaram—constant companion; prasantam—very sober and gentle; brhaspateh—of Brhaspati, the learned spiritual master of the demigods; prak—formerly; tanayam—son or disciple; pratitam—acknowledged; alingya—embracing; gadham—very feelingly; pranayena—in love; bhadram—auspicious; svanam—his own; aprcchat—asked; bhagavat—of the Personality of Godhead; prajanam—family.

Then, due to his great love and feeling, Vidura embraced him [Uddhava], who was a constant companion of Lord Krsna and formerly a great student of Brhaspati’s. Vidura then asked him for news of the family of Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead.

Vidura was older than Uddhava, like a father, and therefore when the two met, Uddhava bowed down before Vidura, and Vidura embraced him because Uddhava was younger, like a son. Vidura’s brother Pandu was Lord Krsna’s uncle, and Uddhava was a cousin to Lord Krsna. According to social custom, therefore, Vidura was to be respected by Uddhava on the level of his father. Uddhava was a great scholar in logic, and he was known to be a son or disciple of Brhaspati, the greatly learned priest and spiritual master of the demigods. Vidura asked Uddhava about the welfare of his relatives, although he already knew that they were no longer in the world. This inquiry appears to be very queer, but Srila Jiva Gosvami states that the news was shocking to Vidura, who therefore inquired again due to great curiosity. Thus his inquiry was psychological and not practical.

SB3.1.26

TEXT 26

kaccit puranau purusau svanabhya-

padmanuvrttyeha kilavatirnau

asata urvyah kusalam vidhaya

krta-ksanau kusalam sura-gehe

kaccit—whether; puranau—the original; purusau—Personalities of Godhead (Krsna and Balarama); svanabhya—Brahma; padma-anuvrttya—by the request of the one who is born from the lotus; iha—here; kila—certainly; avatirnau—incarnated; asate—are; urvyah—in the world; kusalam—well-being; vidhaya—for doing so; krta-ksanau—the elevators of everyone’s prosperity; kusalam—all well; sura-gehe—in the house of Surasena.

[Please tell me] whether the original Personalities of Godhead, who incarnated Themselves at the request of Brahma [who is born out of the lotus flower from the Lord] and who have increased the prosperity of the world by elevating everyone, are doing well in the house of Surasena.

Lord Krsna and Balarama are not two different Personalities of Godhead. God is one without a second, but He expands Himself in many forms without their being separate from one another. They are all plenary expansions. The immediate expansion of Lord Krsna is Baladeva, and Brahma, born from the lotus flower from Garbhodakasayi Visnu, is an expansion of Baladeva. This indicates that Krsna and Baladeva are not subjected to the regulations of the universe; on the contrary, the whole universe is under Their subjugation. They appeared at the request of Brahma to liberate the burden of the world, and They relieved the world by many superhuman activities so that everyone became happy and prosperous. Without the grace of the Lord, no one can become happy and prosperous. Because the happiness of the family of the Lord’s devotees depends on the happiness of the Lord, Vidura first of all inquired about the well-being of the Lord.

SB3.1.27

TEXT 27

kaccit kurunam paramah suhrn no

bhamah sa aste sukham anga saurih

yo vai svasrnam pitrvad dadati

varan vadanyo vara-tarpanena

kaccit—whether; kurunam—of the Kurus; paramah—greatest; suhrt—well-wisher; nah—our; bhamah—brother-in-law; sah—he; aste—is; sukham—happy; anga—O Uddhava; saurih—Vasudeva; yah—one who; vai—certainly; svasrnam—of the sisters; pitr-vat—like a father; dadati—gives; varan—everything desirable; vadanyah—munificent; vara—wife; tarpanena—by pleasing.

[Please tell me] whether the best friend of the Kurus, our brother-in-law Vasudeva, is doing well. He is very munificent. He is like a father to his sisters, and he is always pleasing to his wives.

Lord Krsna’s father, Vasudeva, had sixteen wives, and one of them, named Pauravi or Rohini, the mother of Baladeva, was the sister of Vidura. Vasudeva, therefore, was the husband of Vidura’s sister, and thus they were brothers-in-law. Vasudeva’s sister Kunti was the wife of Pandu, Vidura’s elder brother, and in that sense also, Vasudeva was brother-in-law to Vidura. Kunti was younger than Vasudeva, and it was the duty of the elder brother to treat younger sisters as daughters. Whenever anything was needed by Kunti, it was munificently delivered by Vasudeva, due to his great love for his younger sister. Vasudeva never dissatisfied his wives, and at the same time he supplied the objects desired by his sister. He had special attention for Kunti because she became a widow at an early age. While inquiring about Vasudeva’s welfare, Vidura remembered all about him and the family relationship.

SB3.1.28

TEXT 28

kaccid varuthadhipatir yadunam

pradyumna aste sukham anga virah

yam rukmini bhagavato ’bhilebhe

aradhya vipran smaram adi-sarge

kaccit—whether; varutha—of the military; adhipatih—commander-in-chief; yadunam—of the Yadus; pradyumnah—the son of Krsna named Pradyumna; aste—is; sukham—happy; anga—O Uddhava; virah—the great warrior; yam—whom; rukmini—the wife of Krsna named Rukmini; bhagavatah—from the Personality of Godhead; abhilebhe—got as a prize; aradhya—pleasing; vipran—brahmanas; smaram—Cupid (Kamadeva); adi-sarge—in his previous life.

O Uddhava, please tell me how is Pradyumna, the commander-in-chief of the Yadus, who was Cupid in a former life? Rukmini bore him as her son from Lord Krsna, by the grace of brahmanas whom she pleased.

According to Srila Jiva Gosvami, Smara (Cupid, or Kamadeva) is one of the eternal associates of Lord Krsna. Jiva Gosvami has explained this very elaborately in his treatise Krsna-sandarbha.

SB3.1.29

TEXT 29

kaccit sukham satvata-vrsni-bhoja-

dasarhakanam adhipah sa aste

yam abhyasincac chata-patra-netro

nrpasanasam parihrtya durat

kaccit—whether; sukham—is all well; satvata—the Satvata race; vrsni—the Vrsni dynasty; bhoja—the Bhoja dynasty; dasarhakanam—the Dasarha race; adhipah—King Ugrasena; sah—he; aste—does exist; yam—whom; abhyasincat—installed; sata-patra-netrah—Lord Sri Krsna; nrpa-asana-asam—hope of the royal throne; parihrtya—giving up; durat—at a distant place.