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kancit—for a few days; kalam—time; atha—thus; avatsit—resided; sat-krtah—being well treated; deva-vat—just like a godly personality; sukham—amenities; bhratuh—of the brother; jyesthasya—of the elder; sreyah-krt—for doing good to him; sarvesam—all others; sukham—happiness; avahan—made it possible.

Thus Mahatma Vidura, being treated just like a godly person by his kinsmen, remained there for a certain period just to rectify the mentality of his eldest brother and in this way bring happiness to all the others.

Saintly persons like Vidura must be treated as well as a denizen from heaven. In those days denizens of heavenly planets used to visit homes like that of Maharaja Yudhisthira, and sometimes persons like Arjuna and others used to visit higher planets. Narada is a spaceman who can travel unrestrictedly, not only within the material universes but also in the spiritual universes. Even Narada used to visit the palace of Maharaja Yudhisthira and what to speak of other celestial demigods. It is only the spiritual culture of the people concerned that makes interplanetary travel possible, even in the present body. Maharaja Yudhisthira therefore received Vidura in the manner of reception offered to the demigods.

Mahatma Vidura had already adopted the renounced order of life, and therefore he did not return to his paternal palace to enjoy some material comforts. He accepted out of his own mercy what was offered to him by Maharaja Yudhisthira, but the purpose of living in the palace was to deliver his elder brother, Dhrtarastra, who was too much materially attached. Dhrtarastra lost all his state and descendants in the fight with Maharaja Yudhisthira, and still, due to his sense of helplessness, he did not feel ashamed to accept the charity and hospitality of Maharaja Yudhisthira. On the part of Maharaja Yudhisthira, it was quite in order to maintain his uncle in a befitting manner, but acceptance of such magnanimous hospitality by Dhrtarastra was not at all desirable. He accepted it because he thought that there was no alternative. Vidura particularly came to enlighten Dhrtarastra and to give him a lift to the higher status of spiritual cognition. It is the duty of enlightened souls to deliver the fallen ones, and Vidura came for that reason. But talks of spiritual enlightenment are so refreshing that while instructing Dhrtarastra, Vidura attracted the attention of all the members of the family, and all of them took pleasure in hearing him patiently. This is the way of spiritual realization. The message should be heard attentively, and if spoken by a realized soul, it will act on the dormant heart of the conditioned soul. And by continuously hearing, one can attain the perfect stage of self-realization.

SB1.13.15

TEXT 15

abibhrad aryama dandam

yathavad agha-karisu

yavad dadhara sudratvam

sapad varsa-satam yamah

abibhrat—administered; aryama—Aryama; dandam—punishment; yathavat—as it was suitable; agha-karisu—unto persons who had committed sins; yavat—as long as; dadhara—accepted; sudratvam—the tabernacle of a sudra; sapat—as the result of a curse; varsa-satam—for one hundred years; yamah—Yamaraja.

As long as Vidura played the part of a sudra, being cursed by Manduka Muni, Aryama officiated at the post of Yamaraja to punish those who committed sinful acts.

Vidura, born in the womb of a sudra woman, was forbidden even to be a party of royal heritage along with his brothers Dhrtarastra and Pandu. Then how could he occupy the post of a preacher to instruct such learned kings and ksatriyas as Dhrtarastra and Maharaja Yudhisthira? The first answer is that even though it is accepted that he was a sudra by birth, because he renounced the world for spiritual enlightenment by the authority of Rsi Maitreya and was thoroughly educated by him in transcendental knowledge, he was quite competent to occupy the post of an acarya, or spiritual preceptor. According to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, anyone who is conversant in the transcendental knowledge, or the science of Godhead, be he a brahmana or a sudra, a householder or a sannyasi, is eligible to become a spiritual master. Even in the ordinary moral codes (maintained by Canakya Pandita, the great politician and moralist) there is no harm in taking lessons from a person who may be by birth less than a sudra. This is one part of the answer. The other is that Vidura was not actually a sudra. He was to play the part of a so-called sudra for one hundred years, being cursed by Manduka Muni. He was the incarnation of Yamaraja, one of the twelve mahajanas, on the level with such exalted personalities as Brahma, Narada, Siva, Kapila, Bhisma, Prahlada, etc. Being a mahajana, it is the duty of Yamaraja to preach the cult of devotion to the people of the world, as Narada, Brahma, and other mahajanas do. But Yamaraja is always busy in his plutonic kingdom punishing the doers of sinful acts. Yamaraja is deputed by the Lord to a particular planet, some hundreds of thousands of miles away from the planet of earth, to take away the corrupt souls after death and convict them in accordance with their respective sinful activities. Thus Yamaraja has very little time to take leave from his responsible office of punishing the wrongdoers. There are more wrongdoers than righteous men. Therefore Yamaraja has to do more work than other demigods who are also authorized agents of the Supreme Lord. But he wanted to preach the glories of the Lord, and therefore by the will of the Lord he was cursed by Manduka Muni to come into the world in the incarnation of Vidura and work very hard as a great devotee. Such a devotee is neither a sudra nor a brahmana. He is transcendental to such divisions of mundane society, just as the Personality of Godhead assumes His incarnation as a hog, but He is neither a hog nor a Brahma. He is above all mundane creatures. The Lord and His different authorized devotees sometimes have to play the role of many lower creatures to claim the conditioned souls, but both the Lord and His pure devotees are always in the transcendental position. When Yamaraja thus incarnated himself as Vidura, his post was officiated by Aryama, one of the many sons of Kasyapa and Aditi. The Adityas are sons of Aditi, and there are twelve Adityas. Aryama is one of the twelve Adityas, and therefore it was quite possible for him to take charge of the office of Yamaraja during his one hundred years’ absence in the form of Vidura. The conclusion is that Vidura was never a sudra, but was greater than the purest type of brahmana.

SB1.13.16

TEXT 16

yudhisthiro labdha-rajyo

drstva pautram kulan-dharam

bhratrbhir loka-palabhair

mumude paraya sriya

yudhisthirah—Yudhisthira; labdha-rajyah—possessing his paternal kingdom; drstva—by seeing; pautram—the grandson; kulam-dharam—just suitable for the dynasty; bhratrbhih—by the brothers; loka-palabhaih—who were all expert administrators; mumude—enjoyed life; paraya—uncommon; sriya—opulence.

Having won his kingdom and observed the birth of one grandson competent to continue the noble tradition of his family, Maharaja Yudhisthira reigned peacefully and enjoyed uncommon opulence in cooperation with his younger brothers, who were all expert administrators to the common people.

Both Maharaja Yudhisthira and Arjuna were unhappy from the beginning of the Battle of Kuruksetra, but even though they were unwilling to kill their own men in the fight, it had to be done as a matter of duty, for it was planned by the supreme will of Lord Sri Krsna. After the battle, Maharaja Yudhisthira was unhappy over such mass killings. Practically there was none to continue the Kuru dynasty after them, the Pandavas. The only remaining hope was the child in the womb of his daughter-in-law, Uttara, and he was also attacked by Asvatthama, but by the grace of the Lord the child was saved. So after the settlement of all disturbing conditions and reestablishment of the peaceful order of the state, and after seeing the surviving child, Pariksit, well satisfied, Maharaja Yudhisthira felt some relief as a human being, although he had very little attraction for material happiness, which is always illusory and temporary.

SB1.13.17

TEXT 17

evam grhesu saktanam

pramattanam tad-ihaya

atyakramad avijnatah

kalah parama-dustarah

evam—thus; grhesu—in the family affairs; saktanam—of persons who are too attached; pramattanam—insanely attached; tat-ihaya—engrossed in such thoughts; atyakramat—surpassed; avijnatah—imperceptibly; kalah—eternal time; parama—supremely; dustarah—insurmountable.

Insurmountable, eternal time imperceptibly overcomes those who are too much attached to family affairs and are always engrossed in their thought.

“I am now happy; I have everything in order; my bank balance is quite enough; I can now give my children enough estate; I am now successful; the poor beggar sannyasis depend on God, but they come to beg from me; therefore I am more than the Supreme God.” These are some of the thoughts which engross the insanely attached householder who is blind to the passing of eternal time. Our duration of life is measured, and no one is able to enhance it even by a second against the scheduled time ordained by the supreme will. Such valuable time, especially for the human being, should be cautiously spent because even a second passed away imperceptibly cannot be replaced, even in exchange for thousands of golden coins amassed by hard labor. Every second of human life is meant for making an ultimate solution to the problems of life, i.e. repetition of birth and death and revolving in the cycle of 8,400,000 different species of life. The material body, which is subject to birth and death, diseases and old age, is the cause of all sufferings of the living being, otherwise the living being is eternal; he is never born, nor does he ever die. Foolish persons forget this problem. They do not know at all how to solve the problems of life, but become engrossed in temporary family affairs not knowing that eternal time is passing away imperceptibly and that their measured duration of life is diminishing every second, without any solution to the big problem, namely repetition of birth and death, disease and old age. This is called illusion.

But such illusion cannot work on one who is awake in the devotional service of the Lord. Yudhisthira Maharaja and his brothers the Pandavas were all engaged in the service of the Lord Sri Krsna, and they had very little attraction for the illusory happiness of this material world. As we have discussed previously, Maharaja Yudhisthira was fixed in the service of the Lord Mukunda (the Lord, who can award salvation), and therefore he had no attraction even for such comforts of life as are available in the kingdom of heaven, because even the happiness obtained on the planet Brahmaloka is also temporary and illusory. Because the living being is eternal, he can be happy only in the eternal abode of the kingdom of God (paravyoma), from which no one returns to this region of repeated birth and death, disease and old age. Therefore, any comfort of life or any material happiness which does not warrant an eternal life is but illusion for the eternal living being. One who understands this factually is learned, and such a learned person can sacrifice any amount of material happiness to achieve the desired goal known as brahma-sukham, or absolute happiness. Real transcendentalists are hungry for this happiness, and as a hungry man cannot be made happy by all comforts of life minus foodstuff, so the man hungry for eternal absolute happiness cannot be satisfied by any amount of material happiness. Therefore, the instruction described in this verse cannot be applied to Maharaja Yudhisthira or his brothers and mother. It was meant for persons like Dhrtarastra, for whom Vidura came especially to impart lessons.

SB1.13.18

TEXT 18

viduras tad abhipretya

dhrtarastram abhasata

rajan nirgamyatam sighram

pasyedam bhayam agatam

vidurah—Mahatma Vidura; tat—that; abhipretya—knowing it well; dhrtarastram—unto Dhrtarastra; abhasata—said; rajan—O King; nirgamyatam—please get out immediately; sighram—without the least delay; pasya—just see; idam—this; bhayam—fear; agatam—already arrived.

Mahatma Vidura knew all this, and therefore he addressed Dhrtarastra, saying: My dear King, please get out of here immediately. Do not delay. Just see how fear has overtaken you.

Cruel death cares for no one, be he Dhrtarastra or even Maharaja Yudhisthira; therefore spiritual instruction, as was given to old Dhrtarastra, was equally applicable to younger Maharaja Yudhisthira. As a matter of fact, everyone in the royal palace, including the King and his brothers and mother, was raptly attending the lectures. But it was known to Vidura that his instructions were especially meant for Dhrtarastra, who was too materialistic. The word rajan is especially addressed to Dhrtarastra significantly. Dhrtarastra was the eldest son of his father, and therefore according to law he was to be installed on the throne of Hastinapura. But because he was blind from birth, he was disqualified from his rightful claim. But he could not forget the bereavement, and his disappointment was somewhat compensated after the death of Pandu, his younger brother. His younger brother left behind him some minor children, and Dhrtarastra became the natural guardian of them, but at heart he wanted to become the factual king and hand the kingdom over to his own sons, headed by Duryodhana. With all these imperial ambitions, Dhrtarastra wanted to become a king, and he contrived all sorts of intrigues in consultation with his brother-in-law Sakuni. But everything failed by the will of the Lord, and at the last stage, even after losing everything, men and money, he wanted to remain as king, being the eldest uncle of Maharaja Yudhisthira. Maharaja Yudhisthira, as a matter of duty, maintained Dhrtarastra in royal honor, and Dhrtarastra was happily passing away his numbered days in the illusion of being a king or the royal uncle of King Yudhisthira. Vidura, as a saint and as the duty-bound affectionate youngest brother of Dhrtarastra, wanted to awaken Dhrtarastra from his slumber of disease and old age. Vidura therefore sarcastically addressed Dhrtarastra as the “King,” which he was actually not. Everyone is the servant of eternal time, and therefore no one can be king in this material world. King means the person who can order. The celebrated English king wanted to order time and tide, but the time and tide refused to obey his order. Therefore one is a false king in the material world, and Dhrtarastra was particularly reminded of this false position and of the factual fearful happenings which had already approached him at that time. Vidura asked him to get out immediately, if he wanted to be saved from the fearful situation which was approaching him fast. He did not ask Maharaja Yudhisthira in that way because he knew that a king like Maharaja Yudhisthira is aware of all the fearful situations of this flimsy world and would take care of himself, in due course, even though Vidura might not be present at that time.

SB1.13.19

TEXT 19

pratikriya na yasyeha

kutascit karhicit prabho

sa esa bhagavan kalah

sarvesam nah samagatah

pratikriya—remedial measure; na—there is none; yasya—of which; iha—in this material world; kutascit—by any means; karhicit—or by anyone; prabho—O my lord; sah—that; esah—positively; bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; kalah—eternal time; sarvesam—of all; nah—of us; samagatah—arrived.

This frightful situation cannot be remedied by any person in this material world. My lord, it is the Supreme Personality of Godhead as eternal time [kala] that has approached us all.

There is no superior power which can check the cruel hands of death. No one wants to die, however acute the source of bodily sufferings may be. Even in the days of so-called scientific advancement of knowledge, there is no remedial measure either for old age or for death. Old age is the notice of the arrival of death served by cruel time, and no one can refuse to accept either summon calls or the supreme judgment of eternal time. This is explained before Dhrtarastra because he might ask Vidura to find out some remedial measure for the imminent fearful situation, as he had ordered many times before. Before ordering, however, Vidura informed Dhrtarastra that there was no remedial measure by anyone or from any source in this material world. And because there is no such thing in the material world, death is identical with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as it is said by the Lord Himself in the Bhagavad-gita (10.34).

Death cannot be checked by anyone or from any source within this material world. Hiranyakasipu wanted to be immortal and underwent a severe type of penance by which the whole universe trembled, and Brahma himself approached him to dissuade Hiranyakasipu from such a severe type of penance. Hiranyakasipu asked Brahma to award him the blessings of immortality, but Brahma said that he himself was subject to death, even in the topmost planet, so how could he award him the benediction of immortality? So there is death even in the topmost planet of this universe, and what to speak of other planets, which are far, far inferior in quality to Brahmaloka, the residing planet of Brahma. Wherever there is the influence of eternal time, there is this set of tribulations, namely birth, disease, old age and death, and all of them are invincible.

SB1.13.20

TEXT 20

yena caivabhipanno ’yam

pranaih priyatamair api

janah sadyo viyujyeta

kim utanyair dhanadibhih