140 Srimad-Bhagavatam [ Canto 3, Ch. 4
hundreds and thousands of pious Hindus go to pay respects to the incarna-
tion of Godhead Nara-Narayana. It appears that even five thousand years
ago this holy place was being visited by such a holy being as Uddhava, and
even at that time the place was known to be very, very old. This particular
pilgrimage site is very difficult to visit for ordinary men because of its
difficult situation in the Himalayas ina place which is covered by ice
almost all year. A few months during the summer season people can visit
this place at great personal inconvenience. There are four dhamas, or
kingdoms of God, which represent the planets of the spiritual sky, which
consists of the brahma-jyoti and the Vaikunthas. These are Badarikasrama,
Ramesvaram, Jagannatha Puri and Dvaraka. Faithful Hindus still visit all
these holy places for perfection of spiritual realization, following in the
footsteps of devotees like Uddhava.
TEXT 23
ata ara
Tage gett ate TAT |
MATA «= Tea TI: URI
Sri Suka uvaca
ity uddhavad upakarnya
suhrdam duhsaham vadham
jiianenasamayat ksatta
Sokam utpatitam budhah

srt sukah uvaca—Sri Suka Gosvami said; iti—thus; uddhavat—from
Uddhava; upakarnya—hearing; suhrdam—of friends and relatives; duhsa-
ham—unbearable; vadham—annihilation; jiianena—by transcendental
knowledge; asamayat—pacified himself; ksatta— Vidura; sokam—bereave-
ment; utpatitam—arisen; budhah—the learned.

TRANSLATION

Sti Sukadeva Gosvami said: After hearing from Uddhava all about the
annihilation of his friends and relatives, the learned Vidura pacified his
overwhelming bereavement by dint of his transcendental knowledge.

PURPORT

Vidura was informed that the result of the Battle of Kuruksetra was the

annihilation of his friends and relatives as well as the destruction of the
