“
Srimad-Bhagavatam – Canto Three
” by His Divine Grace A.C. BhaktivedantaSwami Prabhupada.Summary: Srimad-Bhagavatam is compared to the ripened fruit of Vedicknowledge. Also known as the Bhagavata Purana, this multi-volume workelaborates on the pastimes of Lord Krishna and His devotees, and includesdetailed descriptions of, among other phenomena, the process of creationand annihilation of the universe. His Divine Grace A.C. BhaktivedantaSwami Prabhupada considered the translation of the Bhagavatam his life’s work.COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is an evaluation copy of the printed version ofthis book, and is NOT FOR RESALE. This evaluation copy is intended forpersonal non-commercial use only, under the “fair use” guidelinesestablished by international copyright laws. You may use this electronicfile to evaluate the printed version of this book, for your own privateuse, or for short excerpts used in academic works, research, studentpapers, presentations, and the like. You can distribute this evaluationcopy to others over the Internet, so long as you keep this copyrightinformation intact. You may not reproduce more than ten percent (10%) ofthis book in any media without the express written permission from thecopyright holders. Reference any excerpts in the following way:“Excerpted from “Srimad-Bhagavatam” by A.C. Bhaktivedanta SwamiPrabhupada, courtesy of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, www.Krishna.com .”This book and electronic file is Copyright 1973-2003 Bhaktivedanta BookTrust International, 3764 Watseka Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90034, USA. All rights reserved. For any questions, comments, correspondence, or toevaluate dozens of other books in this collection, visit the website ofthe publishers, www.Krishna.com .Canto 3: " The Status Quo"Third CantoChapter OneQuestions by ViduraTEXT 1TEXTsri-suka uvacaevam etat pura prstomaitreyo bhagavan kilaksattra vanam pravistenatyaktva sva-grham rddhimatSYNONYMSsri-sukah uvaca--Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said; evam--thus; etat--this;pura--formerly; prstah--being asked; maitreyah--the great sage Maitreya;bhagavan--His Grace; kila--certainly; ksattra--by Vidura; vanam--forest;pravistena--entering; tyaktva--renouncing; sva-grham--own house;rddhimat--prosperous.
TRANSLATIONSukadeva Gosvami said: After renouncing his prosperous home andentering the forest, King Vidura, the great devotee, asked this questionof His Grace Maitreya Rsi.TEXT 2TEXTyad va ayam mantra-krd vobhagavan akhilesvarahpauravendra-grham hitvapravivesatmasat krtam SYNONYMSyat--the house; vai--what else is there to say; ayam--Sri Krsna; mantra-krt--minister; vah--you people; bhagavan--the Personality ofGodhead; akhila-isvarah--the Lord of everything; pauravendra--Duryodhana;grham--house; hitva--giving up; pravivesa--entered; atmasat--identify with oneself; krtam--so accepted.TRANSLATIONWhat else is there to say about the residential house of the Pandavas?Sri Krsna, the Lord of everything, acted as your minister. He used toenter that house as if it were His own, and He did not take any care ofDuryodhana's house.PURPORTAccording to the Gaudiya acintya-bhedabheda-tattva philosophy,anything which satisfies the senses of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna, isalso Sri Krsna. For example, Sri Vrndavana-dhama is nondifferent from SriKrsna (tad-dhama vrndavanam) because at Vrndavana the Lord enjoys thetranscendental bliss of His internal potency. Similarly, the house of thePandavas was also the source of transcendental bliss for the Lord. It is mentioned here that the Lord identified the house with His own Self. Thusthe house of the Pandavas was as good as Vrndavana, and Vidura should nothave given up that place of transcendental bliss. Therefore the reasonfor his quitting the house was not exactly family misunderstanding;rather, Vidura took the opportunity to meet Rsi Maitreya and discusstranscendental knowledge. For a saintly person like Vidura, anydisturbance due to worldly affairs is insignificant. Such disturbances,however, are sometimes favorable for higher realization, and thereforeVidura took advantage of a family misunderstanding in order to meetMaitreya Rsi.TEXT 3TEXTrajovacakutra ksattur bhagavatamaitreyenasa sangamahkada va saha-samvada
etad varnaya nah prabhoSYNONYMSraja uvaca--the King said; kutra--wherein; ksattuh--with Vidura;bhagavata--and with His Grace; maitreyena--with Maitreya; asa--there was;sangamah--meeting; kada--when; va--also; saha--with; samvadah--discussion; etat--this; varnaya--describe; nah--unto me; prabho--O mylord.TRANSLATIONThe King asked Sukadeva Gosvami: Where and when did the meeting anddiscussion take place between Saint Vidura and His Grace Maitreya Muni?Kindly oblige, my lord, and describe this to us.PURPORTExactly as Saunaka Rsi inquired of Suta Gosvami and Suta Gosvamireplied, so Srila Sukadeva Gosvami replied to King Pariksit's inquiries.The King was very anxious to understand the meaningful discussion thattook place between the two great souls.TEXT 4TEXTna hy alparthodayas tasyavidurasyamalatmanahtasmin variyasi prasnahsadhu-vadopabrmhitahSYNONYMSna--never; hi--certainly; alpa-artha--small (unimportant) purpose;udayah--raised; tasya--his; vidurasya--of Vidura; amala-atmanah--of thesaintly man; tasmin--in that; variyasi--highly purposeful; prasnah--question; sadhu-vada--things approved by saints and sages; upabrmhitah--full with.TRANSLATIONSaint Vidura was a great and pure devotee of the Lord, and thereforehis questions to His Grace Rsi Maitreya must have been very purposeful,on the highest level, and approved by learned circles.PURPORTQuestions and answers among different classes of men have differentvalue. Inquiries by mercantile men in a business exchange cannot beexpected to be highly purposeful in spiritual values. Questions andanswers by different classes of men can be guessed by the caliber of thepersons concerned. In Bhagavad-gita, the discussion was between Lord SriKrsna and Arjuna, the Supreme Person and the supreme devoteerespectively. The Lord admitted Arjuna to be His devotee and friend (Bg.4.3), and therefore any sane man can guess that the discussion was on thetopic of the bhakti-yoga system. Actually the whole Bhagavad-gita isbased on the principle of bhakti-yoga. There is a difference between