Text 8] Dhrtarastra Quits Home 671

yudhisthirah uvaca—Maharaja Yudhisthira said; api— whether; smaratha—
you remember; nah—us; yusmat—from you; paksat—partiality towards us
like the wings of a bird; saya—protection; samedhitan—we who were
brought up by you; vipat-ganat—from various types of calamities; visa—
by administration of poison; agnyadeh—by setting on fire; mocitah—
released from; yat—what you have done; sa—along with; matrkah—our
mother.

TRANSLATION

Maharaja Yudhisthira said: My uncle, do you remember how you
always protected us, along with our mother, from all sorts of calamities?
Your partiality, like wings of a bird, saved us from poisoning and arson.

PURPORT

Due to Pandu’s death at an early age, his minor children and widow were
the object of special care by all the elderly members of the family,
especially Bhismadeva and Mahatma Vidura. Vidura was more or less
partial to the Pandavas due to their political position. Although Dhrtarastra
was equally careful for the minor children of Maharaja Pandu, he was one
of the intriguing parties who wanted to wash away the descendants of
Pandu and replace them by raising his own sons to become the rulers of
the kingdom. Mahatma Vidura could follow this intrigue of Dhrtarastra
and company, and therefore, even though he was a faithful servitor of his
eldest brother Dhrtarastra, he did not like his political ambition for the
sake of his own sons. He was therefore very careful about the protection
of the Pandavas and their widow mother. Thus he was, so to speak, partial
to the Pandavas, preferring them to the sons of Dhrtarastra, although both
of them were equally affectionate in his ordinary eyes. He was equally
affectionate to both the camps of nephews in the sense that he always
chastised Duryodhana for his intriguing policy against his cousins. He
always criticized his elder brother for his policy of encouragement to his
sons, and at the same time he was always alert in giving special protection
to the Pandavas. All these different activities of Vidura within the palace
politics made him well-known as partial to the Pandavas. Maharaja
Yudhisthira has referred to the past history of Vidura before his going
away from home for a prolonged pilgrim’s journey. Maharaja Yudhisthira
reminded him that he was equally kind and partial to his grown-up
nephews, even after the Battle of Kuruksetra, a great family disaster.
