asmÄl lokÄd uparate
mayi jñÄnaá¹ mad-ÄÅ›rayam
arhaty uddhava evÄddhÄ
sampraty ÄtmavatÄá¹ varaḥ
asmÄt - from this (universe); lokÄt - earth; uparate - having disappeared; mayi - of Myself; jñÄnam - knowledge; mat-ÄÅ›rayam - concerning Myself; arhati - deserves; uddhavaḥ - Uddhava; eva - certainly; addhÄ - directly; samprati - at the present moment; ÄtmavatÄm - of the devotees; varaḥ - foremost.
JñÄnaá¹ mad-ÄÅ›rayam is significant in this verse. Transcendental knowledge has three departmental divisions, namely knowledge of impersonal Brahman, knowledge of the all-pervading Supersoul and knowledge of the Personality of Godhead. Out of the three, transcendental knowledge of the Personality of Godhead has special significance and is known as bhagavat-tattva-vijñÄna, specific knowledge of the Personality of Godhead. This specific knowledge is realized by pure devotional service and no other means. Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (18.55) confirms this: bhaktyÄ mÄm abhijÄnÄti yÄvÄn yaÅ› cÄsmi tattvataḥ. “Only persons engaged in devotional service can factually know the transcendental position of the Lord.†Uddhava was considered to be the best amongst all devotees of that time, and therefore he was directly instructed by the Lord’s grace, so that people might take advantage of Uddhava’s knowledge after the disappearance of the Lord from the vision of the world. This is one of the reasons why Uddhava was advised to go to BadarikÄÅ›rama, where the Lord is personally represented by the Nara-NÄrÄyaṇa Deity. One who is transcendentally advanced can gain direct inspiration from the temple Deity, and thus a devotee of the Lord always takes shelter of a recognized temple of the Lord in order to make tangible advancement in transcendental knowledge by the grace of the Lord.