26 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 3, Ch. 1
TEXT 25
a awaeaaat = Wed
Tea: TENT |
oisRa Te TTI AZ
AANFSRRASAT RI
sa vasudevanucaram prasantam
brhaspateh prak-tanayam pratitam
alingya gadham pranayena bhadram
svanam aprcchad bhagavat-prajanam
sah—Vidura; vasudeva—Lord Krgna; anucaram—constant companion;
prasantam—very sober and gentle; brhaspateh—of Brhaspati, the learned
spiritual master of the demigods; prak—formerly ; tanayam—son or disciple;
pratitam—acknowledged; alingya—embracing; gadham—very feelingly;
pranayena—in love; bhadram—auspicious; svanam—his own; aprechat—
asked; bhagavat—of the Personality of Godhead; prajanam—family.
TRANSLATION
Then, due to his great love and feeling, Vidura embraced him
[ Uddhava] who was a constant companion of Lord Krsna and formerly a
great student of Brhaspati. Vidura then asked him for news of the family
of Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead.
PURPORT
Vidura was older than Uddhava, like a father, and therefore when the
two met, Uddhava bowed down before Vidura, and Vidura embraced him
because Uddhava was younger, like a son. Vidura’s brother Pandu was
Lord Krsna’s uncle, and Uddhava was a cousin to Lord Krsna. According
to social custom, therefore, Vidura was to be respected by Uddhava on the
level of his father. Uddhava was a great scholar in logic, and he was known
to be a son or disciple of Brhaspati, the greatly learned priest and spiritual
master of the demigods. Vidura asked Uddhava about the welfare of his
relatives, although he already knew that they were no longer in the world.
This inquiry appears to be very queer, but Srila Jiva Gosvami states that
the news was shocking to Vidura, who therefore inquired again due to
great curiosity. Thus his inquiry was psychological and not practical.
