128 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 3, Ch. 4
PURPORT

Uddhava is one of the eternal associates of the Lord, and a plenary
portion of Uddhava was one of the eight Vasus in the days of yore. The
eight Vasus and the demigods in the upper planetary system, who are
responsible for the management of the universal affairs, performed a
sacrifice in the days of yore, desiring to fulfill their respective ultimate
goals in life. At that time an expansion of Uddhava, acting as one of the
Vasus, desired to become an associate of the Lord. The Lord knew this
because He is present in the heart of every living entity as Paramatma, the
Superconsciousness. In everyone’s heart there is the representation of the
Superconsciousness, who gives memory to the partial consciousness of
every living entity. The living entity, as partial consciousness, forgets
incidences of his past life, but the Superconsciousness reminds him how to
act in terms of his past cultivation of knowledge. Bhagavad-gita confirms
this fact in various ways: ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva
bhajamy aham (Bg. 4.11), sarvasya caharh hrdi sannivisto mattah smrtir
jfianam apahanam ca (Bg. 15.15).

Everyone is at liberty to desire as he likes, but the desire is fulfilled by
the Supreme Lord. Everyone is independent to think or desire, but the
fulfillment of one’s desire depends on the supreme will. This law is
expressed as “‘Man proposes, God disposes.”’ In the days of yore, when the
demigods and Vasus performed sacrifice, Uddhava, as one of the Vasus,
desired to enter into the association of the Lord, which is very difficult
for those busy in empiric philosophical speculation or fruitive activities.
Such persons have practically no information of the facts about becoming
an associate of the Lord. Only the pure devotees can know, by the mercy
of the Lord, that the personal association of the Lord is the highest perfec-
tion of life. The Lord assured Uddhava that He would fulfill his desire. It
appears that when the Lord informed him by His indication to Uddhava,
the great sage Maitreya finally became aware of the importance of entering
into the association of the Lord.

TEXT 12
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