756
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[ Canto 3, Ch. 20 ]
within one day of Brahmā. It is understood here that Manu creates scriptural regulations for the salvation of the conditioned souls who come to the material world for material enjoyment. The Lord is so kind that any soul who wants to enjoy in this material world is given full facility for enjoyment, and at the same time he is shown the path of salvation. Śaunaka Rṣi, therefore, inquired from Śūta Gosvāmī: “What did Śvāyambhuva Manu do after the reinstatement of the earth in its orbital situation?”
TEXT 2
क्षत्ता महाभागवतः कृष्णस्यैकान्तिकः सुहृत् । यस्तत्याजाग्रजं कृष्णे सापत्यमधवानिति ॥ २ ॥
kṣattā mahā-bhāgavataḥ kṛṣṇasyaikāntikaḥ suhṛt yas tatyājāgrajaṁ kṛṣṇe sāpatyam aghavān iti
kṣattā—Vidura; mahā-bhāgavataḥ—a great devotee of the Lord; kṛṣṇasya—of Lord Kṛṣṇa; ekāntikaḥ—unalloyed devotee; suhṛt—intimate friend; yaḥ—he who; tatyāja—abandoned; agrajam—his elder brother (King Dhṛtarāṣṭra); kṛṣṇe—towards Kṛṣṇa; sa-apatyam—along with his one hundred sons; aghavān—offender; iti—thus.
TRANSLATION
He inquired about Vidura, who was a great devotee and friend of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s 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 Rṣi here inquires about the topics of the conversation between Maitreya Rṣi and Vidura. Vidura’s qualification was that he was not only a friend of the Lord’s 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