Text 31] Vidura Approaches Maitreya 151
nam—knowledge of Me (the Personality of Godhead); lokam—the world;
grahayan—just to disseminate; iha—in this world; tisthatu—may remain.
TRANSLATION

Uddhava is not inferior to Me in any way because he is never affected
by the modes of material nature. Therefore he may remain in this world in
order to disseminate specific knowledge of the Personality of Godhead.

PURPORT

The specific qualification for becoming the representative of the Lord is
to be unaffected by the material modes of nature. The highest qualifica-
tion of a person in the material world is to be a brahmana. But since a
brahmana is in the mode of goodness, to be a brahmana is not sufficient
for becoming a representative of the Lord. One has to transcend the mode
of goodness also and be situated in unalloyed goodness, unaffected by any
of the qualities of material nature. This stage of transcendental qualifica-
tion is called suddha-sattva, or vasudeva, and in this stage the science of
God can be realized. As the Lord is not affected by the modes of material
nature, so a pure devotee of the Lord is also not affected by the modes of
nature. That is the primary qualification for being one with the Lord. A
person who is able to attain this transcendental qualification is called
jvanmukta, or liberated, even though he is apparently in material condi-
tions. This liberation is achieved by one who constantly engages in the
transcendental loving service of the Lord. In Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu it is
stated:

tha yasya harer dasye karmana manasa gira
nikhilasv apy avasthasu jivanmuktah sa ucyate.

“Anyone who, by his actions, mind and words, lives only for the transcen-
dental loving service of the Lord, is certainly a liberated soul, even though
he may appear to be in a condition of material existence.” Uddhava was
in such a transcendental position, and thus he was selected to be the
factual representative of the Lord in His bodily absence from the vision of
the world. Such a devotee of the Lord is never affected by material strength,
intelligence or even renunciation. Such a devotee of the Lord can with-
stand all onslaughts of material nature, and therefore he is known as
gosvami. Only such gosvdmis can penetrate the mysteries of the Lord’s
transcendental loving relationships.
