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The third Skanda of the Bhagavata Purana features two lengthy dialogues, one between Uddhava and Vidhura, and the other between Vidhura and Maitreya. Before narrating these in detail to Parikshit, Suka highlights the fact that all three are great devotees of Krishna and also great jnanis, pointed out Sri R. Krishnamurthy Sastrigal in a discourse. Suka refers to Vidhura’s extraordinary devotion to Krishna that becomes explicit when Krishna prefers to stay in Vidhura’s humble home though he had been invited by Duryodhana to his palace.

Vidhura stood for righteousness and would often try his best to remind Dhritarashtra that the Kauravas should have to give back to Yudhishtira his rightful dues. Just before the outbreak of the war, when he repeated the same advice, Duryodhana flew into a rage and insulted him and drove him away. Vidhura had departed peacefully without any hatred in his mind. Vidhura now meets Uddhava on the banks of the Yamuna and wishes to know about what had happened in his absence. When he makes enquiries about Krishna, and from the way he talks to Uddhava, it is clear that Vidhura is so realised that he finds nothing surprising in whatever that happens as he can discern only the Lord’s hand in everything.

Vidhura wishes to hear about the Supreme Lord Krishna whose incarnation has been explicitly to protect the good and the holy from the atrocities of the evil minded. For, none but the Lord can restore the balance between evil and good. He is aware of the purpose of the Krishna avatar which was to offer solace and salvation to those who have taken shelter in Him. When Vidhura learns from Uddhava that just before His ascension to Vaikunta, Krishna had ordained that Maitreya should impart the highest knowledge to him, he is so overwhelmed that Krishna had thought of him at that moment when the avatar was to end.

Conversation Between Maitreya and Vidura

Text 1:

 

Śrī Śaunaka inquired: O Sūta Gosvāmī, after the earth was again situated in its orbit, what did Svāyambhuva Manu do to show the path of liberation to persons who were to take birth later on?

Text 2:

 

Śaunaka Ṛṣi inquired about Vidura, who was a great devotee and friend of Lord Kṛṣṇa and who gave up the company of his elder brother because the latter, along with his sons, played tricks against the desires of the Lord.

Text 3:

 

Vidura was born from the body of Vedavyāsa and was not less than he. Thus he accepted the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa wholeheartedly and was attached to His devotees.

Text 4:

 

Vidura was purified of all passion by wandering in sacred places, and at last he reached Hardwar, where he met the great sage who knew the science of spiritual life, and he inquired from him. Śaunaka Ṛṣi therefore asked: What more did Vidura inquire from Maitreya?

Text 5:

 

Śaunaka inquired about the conversation between Vidura and Maitreya: There must have been many narrations of the spotless pastimes of the Lord. The hearing of such narrations is exactly like bathing in the water of the Ganges, for it can free one from all sinful reactions.

Text 6:

 

O Sūta Gosvāmī, all good fortune to you! Please narrate the activities of the Lord, which are all magnanimous and worth glorifying. What sort of devotee can be satiated by hearing the nectarean pastimes of the Lord?

Text 7:

 

On being asked to speak by the great sages of Naimiṣāraṇya, the son of Romaharṣaṇa, Sūta Gosvāmī, whose mind was absorbed in the transcendental pastimes of the Lord, said: Please hear what I shall now speak.

Text 8:

 

Sūta Gosvāmī continued: Vidura, the descendant of Bharata, was delighted to hear the story of the Lord, who, having assumed by His own divine potency the form of a boar, had enacted the sport of lifting the earth from the bottom of the ocean and indifferently killing the demon Hiraṇyākṣa. Vidura then spoke to the sage as follows.

Text 9:

 

Vidura said: Since you know of matters inconceivable to us, tell me, O holy sage, what did Brahmā do to create living beings after evolving the Prajāpatis, the progenitors of living beings?

Text 10:

 

Vidura inquired: How did the Prajāpatis [such progenitors of living entities as Marīci and Svāyambhuva Manu] create according to the instruction of Brahmā, and how did they evolve this manifested universe?

Text 11:

 

Did they evolve the creation in conjunction with their respective wives, did they remain independent in their action, or did they all jointly produce it?

Text 12:

 

Maitreya said: When the equilibrium of the combination of the three modes of nature was agitated by the unseen activity of the living entity, by Mahā-Viṣṇu and by the force of time, the total material elements were produced.

Text 13:

 

As impelled by the destiny of the jīva, the false ego, which is of three kinds, evolved from the mahat-tattva, in which the element of rajas predominates. From the ego, in turn, evolved many groups of five principles.

Text 14:

 

Separately unable to produce the material universe, they combined with the help of the energy of the Supreme Lord and were able to produce a shining egg.

Text 15:

 

For over one thousand years the shiny egg lay on the waters of the Causal Ocean in the lifeless state. Then the Lord entered it as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.

Text 16:

 

From the navel of the Personality of Godhead Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu sprouted a lotus flower effulgent like a thousand blazing suns. This lotus flower is the reservoir of all conditioned souls, and the first living entity who came out of the lotus flower was the omnipotent Brahmā

Text 17:

 

When that Supreme Personality of Godhead who is lying on the Garbhodaka Ocean entered the heart of Brahmā, Brahmā brought his intelligence to bear, and with the intelligence invoked he began to create the universe as it was before.

Text 18:

 

First of all, Brahmā created from his shadow the coverings of ignorance of the conditioned souls. They are five in number and are called tāmisra, andha-tāmisra, tamas, moha and mahā-moha.

Text 19:

 

Out of disgust, Brahmā threw off the body of ignorance, and taking this opportunity, Yakṣas and Rākṣasas sprang for possession of the body, which continued to exist in the form of night. Night is the source of hunger and thirst.

Text 20:

 

Overpowered by hunger and thirst, they ran to devour Brahmā from all sides and cried, “Spare him not! Eat him up!”

Text 21:

 

Brahmā, the head of the demigods, full of anxiety, asked them, “Do not eat me, but protect me. You are born from me and have become my sons. Therefore you are Yakṣas and Rākṣasas.”

Text 22:

 

He then created the chief demigods, who were shining with the glory of goodness. He dropped before them the effulgent form of daytime, and the demigods sportingly took possession of it.

Text 23:

 

Lord Brahmā then gave birth to the demons from his buttocks, and they were very fond of sex. Because they were too lustful, they approached him for copulation.

Text 24:

 

The worshipful Brahmā first laughed at their stupidity, but finding the shameless asuras close upon him, he grew indignant and ran in great haste out of fear.

Text 25:

 

He approached the Personality of Godhead, who bestows all boons and who dispels the agony of His devotees and of those who take shelter of His lotus feet. He manifests His innumerable transcendental forms for the satisfaction of His devotees.

Text 26:

 

Lord Brahmā, approaching the Lord, addressed Him thus: My Lord, please protect me from these sinful demons, who were created by me under Your order. They are infuriated by an appetite for sex and have come to attack me.

Text 27:

 

My Lord, You are the only one capable of ending the affliction of the distressed and inflicting agony on those who never resort to Your feet.

Text 28:

 

The Lord, who can distinctly see the minds of others, perceived Brahmā’s distress and said to him: “Cast off this impure body of yours.” Thus commanded by the Lord, Brahmā cast off his body.

Text 29:

 

The body given up by Brahmā took the form of the evening twilight, when the day and night meet, a time which kindles passion. The asuras, who are passionate by nature, dominated as they are by the element of rajas, took it for a damsel, whose lotus feet resounded with the tinkling of anklets, whose eyes were wide with intoxication and whose hips were covered by fine cloth, over which shone a girdle.

Text 30:

 

Her breasts projected upward because of their clinging to each other, and they were too contiguous to admit any intervening space. She had a shapely nose and beautiful teeth, a lovely smile played on her lips, and she cast a sportful glance at the asuras.

Text 31:

 

Adorned with dark tresses, she hid herself, as it were, out of shyness. Upon seeing that girl, the asuras were all infatuated with an appetite for sex.

Text 32:

 

The demons praised her: Oh, what a beauty! What rare self-control! What a budding youth! In the midst of us all, who are passionately longing for her, she is moving about like one absolutely free from passion.

Text 33:

 

Indulging in various speculations about the evening twilight, which appeared to them endowed with the form of a young woman, the wicked-minded asuras treated her with respect and fondly spoke to her as follows.

Text 34:

 

Who are you, O pretty girl? Whose wife or daughter are you, and what can be the object of your appearing before us? Why do you tantalize us, unfortunate as we are, with the priceless commodity of your beauty?

Text 35:

 

Whosoever you may be, O beautiful girl, we are fortunate in being able to see you. While playing with a ball, you have agitated the minds of all onlookers.

Text 36:

 

O beautiful woman, when you strike the bouncing ball against the ground with your hand again and again, your lotus feet do not stay in one place. Oppressed by the weight of your full-grown breasts, your waist becomes fatigued, and your clear vision grows dull, as it were. Pray braid your comely hair.

Text 37:

 

The asuras, clouded in their understanding, took the evening twilight to be a beautiful woman showing herself in her alluring form, and they seized her.

Text 38:

 

With a laugh full of deep significance, the worshipful Brahmā then evolved by his own loveliness, which seemed to enjoy itself by itself, the hosts of Gandharvas and Apsarās.

Text 39:

 

After that, Brahmā gave up that shining and beloved form of moonlight. Viśvāvasu and other Gandharvas gladly took possession of it.

Text 40:

 

The glorious Brahmā next evolved from his sloth the ghosts and fiends, but he closed his eyes when he saw them stand naked with their hair scattered.

Text 41:

 

The ghosts and hobgoblins took possession of the body thrown off in the form of yawning by Brahmā, the creator of the living entities. This is also known as the sleep which causes drooling. The hobgoblins and ghosts attack men who are impure, and their attack is spoken of as insanity.

Text 42:

 

Recognizing himself to be full of desire and energy, the worshipful Brahmā, the creator of the living entities, evolved from his own invisible form, from his navel, the hosts of Sādhyas and Pitās.

Text 43:

 

The Pitās themselves took possession of the invisible body, the source of their existence. It is through the medium of this invisible body that those well versed in the rituals offer oblations to the Sādhyas and Pitās [in the form of their departed ancestors] on the occasion of śrāddha.

Text 44:

 

Then Lord Brahmā, by his ability to be hidden from vision, created the Siddhas and Vidyādharas and gave them that wonderful form of his known as the Antardhāna.

Text 45:

 

One day, Brahmā, the creator of the living entities, beheld his own reflection in the water, and admiring himself, he evolved Kimpuruṣas as well as Kinnaras out of that reflection.

Text 46:

 

The Kimpuruṣas and Kinnaras took possession of that shadowy form left by Brahmā. That is why they and their spouses sing his praises by recounting his exploits at every daybreak.

Text 47:

 

Once Brahmā lay down with his body stretched at full length. He was very concerned that the work of creation had not proceeded apace, and in a sullen mood he gave up that body too.

Text 48:

 

O dear Vidura, the hair that dropped from that body transformed into snakes, and even while the body crawled along with its hands and feet contracted, there sprang from it ferocious serpents and Nāgas with their hoods expanded.

Text 49:

 

One day Brahmā, the self-born, the first living creature, felt as if the object of his life had been accomplished. At that time he evolved from his mind the Manus, who promote the welfare activities of the universe.

Text 50:

 

The self-possessed creator gave them his own human form. On seeing the Manus, those who had been created earlier — the demigods, the Gandharvas and so on — applauded Brahmā, the lord of the universe.

Text 51:

 

They prayed: O creator of the universe, we are glad; what you have produced is well done. Since ritualistic acts have now been established soundly in this human form, we shall all share the sacrificial oblations.

Text 52:

 

Having equipped himself with austere penance, adoration, mental concentration and absorption in devotion, accompanied by dispassion, and having controlled his senses, Brahmā, the self-born living creature, evolved great sages as his beloved sons.

Text 53:

 

To each one of these sons the unborn creator of the universe gave a part of his own body, which was characterized by deep meditation, mental concentration, supernatural power, austerity, adoration and renunciation. 

Srikrishna, the Lord of liberation, looked at me cheerfully. With His joyful glance all my bodily exhaustion was blown away and I was bursting with joy. Addressing me He said, “O Uddhava, in your previous birth you were a Vasu (demi-god). I am aware of the deepest desire that you entertain within your mind. I will fulfill that desire of yours which cannot be attained by others. In the bygone period, when Vasus and Prajapatis were conducting Yagnas, you participated in them with the sole desire of obtaining Me.

Uddhava! You are of saintly nature. This is your last birth. This is because My grace has fallen upon you. At the time when I am about to leave this human plane, it is your total faith and absolutely pure mind that, with absolute solitude, you are having My darshan. This has happened due to God’s will.

Previously in the beginning of creation, to Brahma who was seated in my navel, I taught the Supreme Knowledge that explains My essence. Learned scholars address this teaching of mine as Bhāgawatam. I now bless you with the knowledge of that Bhāgawatam”.

In this manner the Supreme Lord spoke lovingly to me. I was fortunate to be showered with His blessings every minute. Due to my love for Him, the hair on my body stood up. I could not get myself to speak. With folded palms and with tears flowing profusely from my eyes I said,

“Ko nv īśa te pāda-saroja-bhājāṁ sudurlabho ’rtheṣu caturṣv apīha

Tathāpi nāhaṁ pravṛṇomi bhūman bhavat-padāmbhoja-niṣevaṇotsukaḥ 

O Lord! There is nothing which is not attained by those who serve Your lotus feet! The four-fold goals of life viz., Dharma, artha, kama and moksha, will all be easily attained by them. O Paramātma! Even then I do not seek them. The desire to remain eternally serving Your lotus feet is very strong, O Lord.

(Dharma means abiding by the rules of righteousness, artha means materialistic earnings, kāma means fulfillment of desires and moksha means to attain liberation).

O Lord, although You are free from desire and are untouched by action, You always appear to be involved in action. You are birthless yet at all times You incarnate. You are the Lord of time and death and yet, pretending to be scared of your enemies, You ran to the island called Dwaraka and enacted as if You sought shelter there.

You, who are none other than the Self in all, enacted as if You were a house-holder with 10,000 wives enjoying those comforts. Even learned scholars who fail to properly understand your divine plays, become perplexed seeing Your actions.

O Lord, You are omniscient! You possess indivisible ultimate knowledge. Yet pretending as if You know nothing, You would always seek my advice. This would put me in delusion.  O Lord, You taught in entirety to Brahma that Supreme Knowledge which talks about Your real original form. If you believe that I possess the capacity to absorb that knowledge then kindly preach it to me too. With the help of that knowledge I will very easily cross this ocean called worldly bondages”.

In this manner I expressed, to the Lord, the desire that was deep within my heart. Then the lotus-eyed Lord Srikrishna imparted to me the knowledge of the Self. I circumambulated and offered obeisance to those lotus feet of Srikrishna, who in the form of Guru, had taught to me the complete knowledge of the Self. From there I came to this place and still am unable to bear these pangs of separation from Him.

O Vidura! For many years I was blissful due to the presence of Srikrishna. Even though this is true, this sorrow of separation overpowers that bliss which I enjoyed in those days. Badari ashrama is very dear to Lord Srikrishna. In accordance with His orders I am proceeding to Badari.

Yatra nārāyaṇo devo naraś ca bhagavān ṛṣiḥ

Mṛdu tīvraṁ tapo dīrghaṁ tepāte loka-bhāvanau

 That holy place Badarikāśrama where Maharishis Nara and Nārāyaṇa, with the intent of causing the welfare of the worlds, took up gentle austerities but performed them with utmost strictness is very dear to Srikrishna. I am now proceeding to Badari” said Uddhava.

Vidura, who heard this unbearable news about his near and dear ones from Uddhava, forcefully withheld within himself the sorrow that was gushing out. As Uddhava was about to leave for Badarikāśrama, Vidura, the most supreme amongst the Kuru lineage, addressing him said,

“O Uddhava! Srikrishna, who is the Lord of Yoga, has preached to you the entire knowledge of the Self. Please impart that teaching to me. There is none who is more capable than you. The devotees of Lord Srivishnu travel eternally so as to be of some help in the activities of other devotees. Please consider me as your devotee and instruct me into this knowledge”.

Uddhava then said, “O Vidura! Please approach Maharishi Maitreya if you are desirous of obtaining Self-knowledge. This is because in that last moment when Srikrishna was about to leave this earth, He personally imparted this Self-knowledge to Maharishi Maitreya”.

In this way Uddhava, who recounted the glories of the Lord and of His greatness, qualities, principles etc., was now free from grief. He spent that night on the sandy banks of Yamuna as if it were just a moment. The next morning he left that place and went away.” said Maharishi Śuka.

Hearing these words, Parikshit enquired, “O Maharishi Śuka! All the eminent warriors of the Vristhi and Bhoja clans, who possessed unsurpassed prowess, died. Srikrishna, the Lord of all the planes, also gave up His human body. How is it possible for only Uddhava, the most supreme amongst the Yadavas, to still remain alive?”

Śuka Avadhoota replied, “When the time for his departure from earth had arrived, Lord Srikrishna, who possessed supreme divine will, through the excuse called ‘the curse of the Brahmins’ actually withdrew all the members of His Yadava clan into himself. While leaving His body, He thought,

Asmāl lokād uparate mayi jñānaṁ mad-āśrayam

Arhaty uddhava evāddhā sampraty ātmavatāṁ varaḥ
Dāmodarāya namah