स इत्थं चोदितः क्षत्त्रा तत्त्वजिज्ञासुना मुनिः ।
प्रत्याह भगवच्चित्तः स्मयन्निव गतस्मयः ॥८॥
Å›rÄ«-Å›uka uvÄca
sa itthaá¹ coditaḥ ká¹£attrÄ
tattva-jijñÄsunÄ muniḥ
pratyÄha bhagavac-cittaḥ
smayann iva gata-smayaḥ
Å›rÄ«-Å›ukaḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ« Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said; saḥ - he (Maitreya Muni); ittham - in this way; coditaḥ - being agitated; ká¹£attrÄ - by Vidura; tattva-jijñÄsunÄ - by one who was anxious to inquire to know the truth; muniḥ - the great sage; pratyÄha - replied; bhagavat-cittaḥ - God conscious; smayan - wondering; iva - as if; gata-smayaḥ - without hesitation.
ÅšrÄ« Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said: O King, Maitreya, being thus agitated by the inquisitive Vidura, at first seemed astonished, but then he replied to him without hesitation, since he was fully God conscious.
Since the great sage Maitreya was filled with God consciousness, he had no reason to be astonished at such contradictory questions by Vidura. Therefore, although as a devotee he externally expressed surprise, as if he did not know how to reply to those questions, he immediately became perfectly settled and properly replied to Vidura. Yasmin vijñÄte sarvam evaá¹ vijñÄtaá¹ bhavati (Muṇá¸aka Upaniá¹£ad 1.3). Anyone who is a devotee of the Lord knows about the Lord to some extent, and devotional service to the Lord makes him able to know everything by the grace of the Lord. Although a devotee may apparently express himself to be ignorant, he is full of knowledge in every intricate matter.
