Srimad Bhagavatam. Canto 3: The Status Quo

Chapter 5: Vidura's Talks with Maitreya. Text 1

श्रीशुक उवाच
द्वारि द्युनद्या ऋषभः कुरूणां
मैत्रेयमासीनमगाधबोधम् ।
क्षत्तोपसृत्याच्युतभावसिद्धः
पप्रच्छ सौशील्यगुणाभितृप्तः ॥१॥

Å›rÄ«-Å›uka uvÄca
dvÄri dyu-nadyÄ á¹›á¹£abhaḥ kurūṇÄá¹
maitreyam ÄsÄ«nam agÄdha-bodham
ká¹£attopasá¹›tyÄcyuta-bhÄva-siddhaḥ
papraccha sauśīlya-guṇÄbhitá¹›ptaḥ

 Å›rÄ«-Å›ukaḥ uvÄca - Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said; dvÄri - at the source of; dyu-nadyÄḥ - the celestial River Ganges; á¹›á¹£abhaḥ - the best of the Kurus; kurūṇÄm - of the Kurus; maitreyam - unto Maitreya; ÄsÄ«nam - sitting; agÄdha-bodham - of unfathomed knowledge; ká¹£attÄ - Vidura; upasá¹›tya - having approached nearer; acyuta - the infallible Lord; bhÄva - character; siddhaḥ - perfect; papraccha - inquired; sauśīlya - gentleness; guṇa-abhitá¹›ptaḥ - satisfied in transcendental qualities.


Text

Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said: Vidura, the best amongst the Kuru dynasty, who was perfect in devotional service to the Lord, thus reached the source of the celestial Ganges river [Hardwar], where Maitreya, the great, fathomless learned sage of the world, was seated. Vidura, who was perfect in gentleness and satisfied in transcendence, inquired from him.

Purport

Vidura was already perfect due to his unalloyed devotion to the infallible Lord. The Lord and the living entities are all qualitatively the same by nature, but the Lord is quantitatively much greater than any individual living entity. He is ever infallible, whereas the living entities are prone to fall under the illusory energy. Vidura had already surpassed the fallible nature of the living entity in conditional life due to his being acyuta-bhÄva, or legitimately absorbed in the devotional service of the Lord. This stage of life is called acyuta-bhÄva-siddha, or perfection by dint of devotional service. Anyone, therefore, who is absorbed in the devotional service of the Lord is a liberated soul and has all admirable qualities. The learned sage Maitreya was sitting in a solitary place on the bank of the Ganges at Hardwar, and Vidura, who was a perfect devotee of the Lord and possessed all good transcendental qualities, approached him for inquiry.