srimadbhagavatham-skandha3-chapters 1 to 3

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Srimadbhagavatham-skandha3

 

Chapter-1-Vidura meets Uddhava

 

When Krishna went to Hasthinapura as the envoy of Pandavas his

words were like nectar to the good people like Bhishma and Vidura

but to Duryodhana and others it was unpalatable.and they turned a

deaf ear to whatever Krishna said. Then Vidura met his brother

Dhrtarashtra and advised him about justice , which passage is well

known as the viduraneethi but it was of no avail.

 

Duryodhan angered by Vidura's attitude insulted him in the court

calling him names and told him to go and join the Pandavas as he is

partial towards them. But Vidura, though he left the kingdom, did

not go to Pandavas as he was a jnani and beyond the control of maya

and he went on a pilgrimage to the holy places wondering about the

play of maya which leads one to ruin. Vidura is referred to in

Bhagavatham as kouravapuNyalabDha, the result of the punya of

kouravas, meaning that when he left their punya also left them.

 

Vidura was touring around the country visiting all the shrines and

holy rivers and he met Uddhava at the end of his travels when the

war was over and Krishna had left the earth. He was very happy to

see Uddhava who was the great follower of Krishna and the disciple

of Brhaspathi and enquired him about the welfare of his people and

Krishna.

 

Chapters 2 and 3-Uddhava informs Vidura of Krishna's departure

 

Uddhava thinking about the departure of Krishna became very sad and

was not able to answer the question of Vidura. He could not speak

because he was so engrossed in the devotion of Krishna all his life.

When he was five year old, he was worshipping Krishna as a child's

play and was so involved that he did not hear his mother calling him

for food. Then after Krishna came to Madhura he became very close to

Krishna and stayed with him all his life. So the separation was

unbearable to him. Moreover he was all the time engrossed in the

thought of Krishna and he could not bring himself out of it even to

reply to Vidura. The very mention of Krishna was enough to throw him

in ecstasy. Thus Vidura saw him `theevreNabhakthiyogena nimagnaH

saaDhu nirvrthaH pulakodbhinnasarvaangomunchan meeladhrSaa SuchaH,'

he was completely immersed in the joy of the remembrance of Krishna

experiencing horripilation with tears streaming from his eyes.

 

Then slowly coming back to this world he spoke thus:

" My people have lost their luster being swallowed by kalasarpa. They

were plunged into darkness when the Sun has set, " meaning the exit

of Krishna who was like the Sun of yadhavas. Uddhava said that the

yadhavas never understood the worth of Krishna while he was with

them like the fish, seeing the reflection of the moon in the water

think that he is one of the creatures of the sea Further Uddhava

said, " Or what should I say about the Lord who has delighted the

world with His presence, which cannot be had except through penance,

and now disappeared from us. "

 

Uddhava then related the exploits of Krishna during the war, his

driving the chariot for Arjuna, causing the destruction of kuru race

etc. and also the curse on Yadhavas which led to the destruction of

the race.(this is related in the 12th skandha) Uddhava told Vidura

that everything happened according to the will of The

Lord. `kopithaa rshayaH seo pH bhagavanmathakovidhaaH.' The rshis

cursed the yadhavas because they knew the will of the Lord.

 

After the curse the yadhavas went to Prabhasathirtha to do some

austerities there and after that they drank wine and became

intoxicated and started to quarrel and destroyed each other.