Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 3.4.28

rajovaca

nidhanam upagateshu vrishni-bhojeshv

adhiratha-yuthapa-yuthapeshu mukhyah

sa tu katham avasishta uddhavo yad

dharir api tatyaja akritim tryadhisah

SYNONYMS

raja uvaca -- the King inquired; nidhanam -- destruction; upagateshu -- having overtaken; vrishni -- of the Vrishni dynasty; bhojeshu -- the Bhoja dynasty; adhiratha -- great commander; yutha-pa -- commander in chief; yutha-peshu -- amongst them; mukhyah -- prominent; sah -- he; tu -- only; katham -- how; avasishtah -- remained; uddhavah -- Uddhava; yat -- whereas; harih -- the Personality of Godhead; api -- also; tatyaje -- finished; akritim -- complete pastimes; tri-adhisah -- the Lord of the three worlds.

TRANSLATION

The King inquired: At the end of the pastimes of the Lord of the three worlds, Sri Krishna, and after the disappearance of the members of the Vrishni and Bhoja dynasties, who were the best of the great commanders, why did Uddhava alone remain?

PURPORT

According to Sri Jiva Gosvami, nidhanam means the transcendental abode of the Lord. Ni means the highest, and dhanam means opulence. And because the abode of the Lord is the highest manifestation of transcendental opulence, His abode can therefore be called nidhanam. Apart from the grammatical elucidation, the real purpose of the word nidhanam is to indicate that all the members of the Vrishni and Bhoja dynasties were direct associates of the Lord, and after the end of His pastimes, all the associates were dispatched to their respective positions in the transcendental abode.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura elucidates the meaning of akritim as pastimes. A means complete, and kritim means transcendental pastimes. Since the Lord is identical with His transcendental body, there is no question of His changing or quitting His body. To act in accordance with the rules and customs of the material world, the Lord seems to take His birth or leave His body, but the pure devotees of the Lord know well the actual fact. It is necessary, therefore, for the serious students of Srimad-Bhagavatam to follow the notes and comments of the great acaryas like Jiva Gosvami and Visvanatha Cakravarti. To others, who are not devotees of the Lord, the comments and explanations of such acaryas may appear to he grammatical jugglery, but to the students who are in the line of disciplic succession, the explanations of the great acaryas are quite fit.

The word upagateshu is also significant. All the members of Vrishni and Bhoja directly reached the abode of the Lord. Other devotees do not reach the abode of the Lord directly, but the pure associates of the Lord have no attraction for the opulence of any planets of the material world. Sometimes, due to inquisitiveness, devotees who are to be promoted to the abode of the Lord have some attraction for the opulence of the higher material planets above the earth, and thus they desire to see them while going up to the perfection. But the Vrishnis and Bhojas were directly dispatched because they had no attraction for material planets. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura also suggests that according to the Amara-kosa dictionary, akriti also means "signal." Lord Krishna ordered Uddhava by signal to go to Badarikasrama after His departure, and Uddhava, as a pure devotee of the Lord, carried out the order more faithfully than going back to Godhead, or the abode of the Lord. That was the cause of his remaining alone even after the departure of the Lord from the face of the earth.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness