Canto 3: The Status QuoChapter 20: Conversation Between Maitreya and Vidura

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.20.2

kṣattā mahā-bhāgavataḥ

kṛṣṇasyaikāntikaḥ suhṛt

yas tatyājāgrajaḿ kṛṣṇe

sāpatyam aghavān iti

SYNONYMS

kṣattāVidura; mahā-bhāgavataḥa great devotee of the Lord; kṛṣṇasya — of Lord Kṛṣṇa; ekāntikaḥ — unalloyed devotee; suhṛt — intimate friend; yaḥhe who; tatyāja — abandoned; agra-jam — his elder brother (King Dhṛtarāṣṭra); kṛṣṇe — toward Kṛṣṇa; sa-apatyam — along with his one hundred sons; agha-vān — offender; iti — thus.

TRANSLATION

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.

PURPORT

The incident referred to here is that Vidura left the protection of his elder brother Dhṛtarāṣṭra, went traveling everywhere to sacred places and met Maitreya at Hardwar. Śaunaka Ṛṣi here inquires about the topics of the conversation between Maitreya Ṛṣi and Vidura. Vidura's qualification was that he was not only a friend of the Lord but also a great devotee. When Kṛṣṇa tried to stop the war and mitigate the misunderstanding between the cousin-brothers, they refused to accept His counsel; therefore Kṣattā, or Vidura, was unsatisfied with them, and he left the palace. As a devotee, Vidura showed by example that anywhere that Kṛṣṇa is not honored is a place unfit for human habitation. A devotee may be tolerant regarding his own interests, but he should not be tolerant when there is misbehavior toward the Lord or the Lord's devotee. Here the word aghavān is very significant, for it indicates that the Kauravas, Dhṛtarāṣṭra's sons, lost the war because of being sinful in disobeying the instructions of Kṛṣṇa.

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