758 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 3, Ch. 20

kim anvaprechan maitreyam
virajas tirtha-sevaya
upagamya kusavarta
dsinam tattva-vittamam

kim—what; anvaprechat—inquired; maitreyam—from the sage Maitreya;
virajah— Vidura, who was without material contamination; tirtha-sevaya—
by visiting sacred places; upagamya—having met; kusdvarte—at Kusavarta
(Haridvara or Hardwar); dsinam—who was abiding; tattva-vittamam—the
foremost knower of the science of spiritual life.

TRANSLATION

Vidura was purified of all passion by wandering in sacred places, and at
last he reached Hardwar, where he met the great sage, who knew the
science of spiritual life, and he inquired from him. Saunaka Rgi therefore
asked: What more did Vidura inquire from Maitreya?

PURPORT

Here the words virajas tirtha-sevaya refer to Vidura, who was completely
cleansed of all contamination by traveling in places of pilgrimage. In India
there are hundreds of sacred places of pilgrimage, of which Praydga,
Hardwar, Vrndavana and Rameshwaram are considered principal. After
leaving his home, which was full of politics and diplomacy, Vidura wanted
to purify himself by traveling to all the sacred places, which are so
situated that anyone who goes there automatically becomes purified. This
is especially true in Vrndavana; any person may go there, and even if he is
sinful he will at once contact an atmosphere of spiritual life and will
‘ automatically chant the names of Krsna and Radha. That we have actually
seen and experienced. It is recommended in the sastras that after retiring
from active life and accepting the vanaprastha (retired) order, one should
travel everywhere to places of pilgrimage in order to purify himself.
Vidura completely discharged this duty, and at last he reached Kusavarta,
or Hardwar, where the sage Maitreya was silting.

Another significant point is that one must go to sacred places not only
to take bath there, but to search out great sages like Maitreya and take
instructions from them. If one does not do so, his traveling to places of
pilgrimage is simply a waste of time. Narottama dasa [hakura, a great
acarya of the Vaisnava sect, has, for the present, forbidden us to go to such
places of pilgrimage because in this age, the times having so changed, a
