Text 18] Vidura Approaches Maitreya 135

has no past, present and future because He is unhampered by the influence
of eternal time and thus nothing is hidden from Him. He is eternally
self-intelligent. Therefore His calling for Uddhava to give Him enlighten-
ment is certainly astonishing. All these actions of the Lord appear to be
contradictory, although there is no contradiction in the routine activities
of the Lord. Therefore it is better to see them as they are and not attempt
to explain them,

TEXT 18

ad oot | aaa
TAA FA WAM AAT |
aft ad at wena aa-

daa ae ated ATA NILE

jfianam param svatma-rahah-prakasam
provaca kasmai bhagavan samagram

apt ksamam no grahanaya bhartar
vadafijasa yad urjinam tarema

jiianam—knowledge; param—supreme; sva-atma—own self; rahah—
mystery; prakasam—enlightening; provaca—said; kasmai—unto’ Ka
(Brahmaji); bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; samagram—in sum
total; api—if so; ksamam—able; nah—unto me; grahanaya—acceptable;
bhartah—my Lord; vada—say; afijasa—in detail; yat—that which; vrjinam—
miseries; tarema—can cross over.

TRANSLATION

My Lord, kindly explain to us, if You think us competent to receive
it, that transcendental knowledge which gives enlightenment about Your-
self and which You explained before to Brahmaji.

PURPORT

A pure devotee like Uddhava has no material afflictions because he
engages constantly in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. A
devotee feels afflicted without the association of the Lord. Constant
remembrance of the Lord’s activities keeps the devotee alive, and there-
fore Uddhava requested that the Lord please enlighten him with the
knowledge of Srimad-Bhagavatam, as was previously instructed to
Brahmaji.
