sÅ«ta uvÄca
yudhiá¹£á¹hiras tad Äkarṇya
Å›ayÄnaá¹ Å›ara-pañjare
apá¹›cchad vividhÄn dharmÄn
ṛṣīṇÄá¹ cÄnuśṛṇvatÄm
sÅ«taḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ« SÅ«ta GosvÄmÄ« said; yudhiá¹£á¹hiraḥ - King Yudhiá¹£á¹hira; tat - that; Äkarṇya - hearing; Å›ayÄnam - lying down; Å›ara-pañjare - on the bed of arrows; apá¹›cchat - asked; vividhÄn - multifarious; dharmÄn - duties; ṛṣīṇÄm - of the ṛṣis; ca - and; anuśṛṇvatÄm - hearing after.
BhÄ«á¹£madeva, speaking in that appealing tone, convinced MahÄrÄja Yudhiá¹£á¹hira that he was very soon passing away. And MahÄrÄja Yudhiá¹£á¹hira was inspired by Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa to ask him of the principles of religion. Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa inspired MahÄrÄja Yudhiá¹£á¹hira to ask BhÄ«á¹£madeva in the presence of many great sages, indicating thereby that the Lord’s devotee like BhÄ«á¹£madeva, although apparently living as a worldly man, is far superior to many great sages, even VyÄsadeva. Another point is that BhÄ«á¹£madeva at that time was not only lying on a deathbed of arrows, but was greatly aggrieved because of that state. One should not have asked him any question at that time, but Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa wanted to prove that His pure devotees are always sound in body and mind by dint of spiritual enlightenment, and thus in any circumstances a devotee of the Lord is in perfect order to speak of the right way of life. Yudhiá¹£á¹hira also preferred to solve his problematic questions by asking BhÄ«á¹£madeva rather than ask anyone else present there who was seemingly more learned than BhÄ«á¹£madeva. This is all due to the arrangement of the great wheel-carrier Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, who establishes the glories of His devotee. The father likes to see the son become more famous than himself. The Lord declares very emphatically that worship of His devotee is more valuable than the worship of the Lord Himself.