अथोदीचीं दिशं यातु स्वैरज्ञातगतिर्भवान् ।
इतोऽर्वाक्प्रायशः कालः पुंसां गुणविकर्षणः ॥२८॥

athodÄ«cÄ«á¹ diÅ›aá¹ yÄtu
svair ajñÄta-gatir bhavÄn
ito 'rvÄk prÄyaÅ›aḥ kÄlaḥ
puá¹sÄá¹ guṇa-vikará¹£aṇaḥ

 atha - therefore; udÄ«cÄ«m - northern side; diÅ›am - direction; yÄtu - please go away; svaiḥ - by your relatives; ajñÄta - without knowledge; gatiḥ - movements; bhavÄn - of yourself; itaḥ - after this; arvÄk - will usher in; prÄyaÅ›aḥ - generally; kÄlaḥ - time; puá¹sÄm - of men; guṇa - qualities; vikará¹£aṇaḥ - diminishing.


Text

Please, therefore, leave for the North immediately, without letting your relatives know, for soon that time will approach which will diminish the good qualities of men.

Purport

One can compensate for a life of frustration by becoming a dhÄ«ra, or leaving home for good without communicating with relatives, and Vidura advised his eldest brother to adopt this way without delay because very quickly the Age of Kali was approaching. A conditioned soul is already degraded by the material association, and still in the Kali-yuga the good qualities of a man will deteriorate to the lowest standard. He was advised to leave home before Kali-yuga approached because the atmosphere which was created by Vidura, his valuable instructions on the facts of life, would fade away due to the influence of the age which was fast approaching. To become narottama, or a first-class human being depending completely on the Supreme Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, is not possible for any ordinary man. It is stated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (7.28) that a person who is completely relieved of all taints of sinful acts can alone depend on the Supreme Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. Dhá¹›tarÄṣṭra was advised by Vidura at least to become a dhÄ«ra in the beginning if it were impossible for him to become a sannyÄsÄ« or a narottama. Persistently endeavoring on the line of self-realization helps a person to rise to the conditions of a narottama from the stage of a dhÄ«ra. The dhÄ«ra stage is attained after prolonged practice of the yoga system, but by the grace of Vidura one can attain the stage immediately simply by willing to adopt the means of the dhÄ«ra stage, which is the preparatory stage for sannyÄsa. The sannyÄsa stage is the preparatory stage of paramahaá¹sa, or the first-grade devotee of the Lord.