भामः स आस्ते सुखमङ्ग शौरिः ।
यो वै स्वस्णां पितृवद्ददाति
वरान्वदान्यो वरतर्पणेन ॥२७॥
kaccit kurūṇÄá¹ paramaḥ suhá¹›n no
bhÄmaḥ sa Äste sukham aá¹…ga Å›auriḥ
yo vai svasá¹á¹‡Äá¹ pitá¹›vad dadÄti
varÄn vadÄnyo vara-tarpaṇena
kaccit - whether; kurūṇÄm - of the Kurus; paramaḥ - greatest; suhá¹›t - well-wisher; naḥ - our; bhÄmaḥ - brother-in-law; saḥ - he; Äste - is; sukham - happy; aá¹…ga - O Uddhava; Å›auriḥ - Vasudeva; yaḥ - one who; vai - certainly; svasá¹á¹‡Äm - of the sisters; pitá¹›-vat - like a father; dadÄti - gives; varÄn - everything desirable; vadÄnyaḥ - munificent; vara - wife; tarpaṇena - by pleasing.
[Please tell me] whether the best friend of the Kurus, our brother-in-law Vasudeva, is doing well. He is very munificent. He is like a father to his sisters, and he is always pleasing to his wives.
Lord Kṛṣṇa’s father, Vasudeva, had sixteen wives, and one of them, named PauravÄ« or Rohiṇī, the mother of Baladeva, was the sister of Vidura. Vasudeva, therefore, was the husband of Vidura’s sister, and thus they were brothers-in-law. Vasudeva’s sister KuntÄ« was the wife of PÄṇá¸u, Vidura’s elder brother, and in that sense also, Vasudeva was brother-in-law to Vidura. KuntÄ« was younger than Vasudeva, and it was the duty of the elder brother to treat younger sisters as daughters. Whenever anything was needed by KuntÄ«, it was munificently delivered by Vasudeva, due to his great love for his younger sister. Vasudeva never dissatisfied his wives, and at the same time he supplied the objects desired by his sister. He had special attention for KuntÄ« because she became a widow at an early age. While inquiring about Vasudeva’s welfare, Vidura remembered all about him and the family relationship.
