Vidhura is the brother of Pandhu and Drtatrastra. However, because he was the son of a maidservant, he didn’t have a claim to the throne, although he was raised in the palace and educated in the military science just like his brothers.
Different from Drtarastra, Vidhura was a pure devotee. He was an incarnation of Yamaraja, who, under the pretext of being cursed to take birth as a sudra, had come to take part in Krsna’s pastimes. While he was present on Earth, Aryamā officiated at his post, punishing the sinful souls. It’s important to understand that just like in the case of other demigods, “Yamaraja” is actually the name of a post, and not directly the name of a person, just like “Indra” or “Surya”. Different souls can take up the post and perform the functions, just like different persons may occupy the post of president at different times.
Vidhura protested the mistreatment of the Pandavas, advising Drtarastra to abandon his envy of them, and instead get rid of Duryodhana, who was offense personified. Drtarastra however was too attached to his son and thus didn’t react to his words.
Duryodhana then used the opportunity to expel Vidhura from the palace which he gladly accepted, understanding that there was nothing he could do for his brother at the time and that it would be thus better to go out on pilgrimage, using his time to visit holy places and meet saintly persons.
Vidhura returning to the palace happened shortly after the disappearance of Krsna before the Pandavas had received the news. Vidhura already knew Krsna had left the planet and thus was anxious to save his brother Drtarastra, helping him to return back home, back to Godhead before it was too late. To avoid a commotion, he decided to not say anything about the disappearance of Krsna to the Pandavas, understanding that they would receive the news sooner or later. Instead, he focused on his main mission of helping his brother.
Pariksit Maharaja, one of the heroes of Srimad Bhagavatam, was born in the most uncommon circumstances, having to face the danger of an atomic explosion while still in the womb, and having the personal darshan of the Lord, who personally appeared just to save him.
As revealed on SB 3.3.17, the body of Maharaja Pariksit had been burned by the Brahmastra, but it was restored by the mercy of the Lord. This is confirmed in the first canto:
“The womb of Uttarā, mother of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, was spoiled by the dreadful and invincible brahmāstra weapon released by Aśvatthāmā. But Mahārāja Parīkṣit was saved by the Supreme Lord.”
Śaunaka Rishi wants to know more about this extraordinary birth, and thus asks:
“How was the great emperor Parīkṣit, who was a highly intelligent and great devotee, born in that womb? How did his death take place, and what did he achieve after his death? We all respectfully want to hear about him [Mahārāja Parīkṣit] to whom Śukadeva Gosvāmī imparted transcendental knowledge. Please speak on this matter.” (SB 1.12.2-3)
During the time of the battle of Kuruksetra and afterward, Krsna stayed a long time in Hastinapura assisting the Pandavas in many different matters. During all this time, the inhabitants of Dvaraka experienced the ecstasy of separation from the Lord.
When Krsna finally returned after this long visit, the inhabitants of Dvaraka bloomed with the ecstasy of meeting again the Lord after a long period of separation. As soon as they heard the sound of His conchshell, all the inhabitants ran fast towards the Lord, to satisfy their long cherished desire of being again with Him.
There is a lot of spiritual significance in these verses. When it’s described that the conch appeared to be reddened by the touch of the Lord’s transcendental lips, a reference is made to the fact that a devotee can exhibit all kinds of wonderful spiritual qualities due to his contact with Krsna. This is something we can see in practice: people change when they sincerely start practicing devotional service. Negative traits disappear, they gain new qualities and abilities, and even their physical appearance changes. This is all due to the contact with the Lord. In the same way, material objects used in the service of Krsna become spiritualized, just like prasadam offered to Him.
As its customary in Vedic culture, the inhabitants of Dvaraka didn’t go to see the Lord with empty hands; they brought many valuable offerings to the Lord. These offerings are described as being like the offering of a lamp to the sun. The sun the is source of heat and light for the whole universe and thus has nothing to benefit from a small lamp offered by a worshiper. Similarly, the Lord is the source of everything, and the possessor of everything, and thus He doesn’t have anything to gain from any material offering. The offering serves however as a vessel for our devotion to the Lord. The offering itself is not very important, but the devotion and the love carried by it satisfy the Lord and increase our relationship with Him.
As Prabhupada mentions: “Therefore, any presentation, however valuable it may be, is not needed by Him. But still, because He is the well-wisher for one and all, He accepts from everyone everything that is offered to Him in pure devotional service. It is not that He is in want for such things, because the things are themselves generated from His energy.”
When the Lord finally entered the city, the dwellers of Dvaraka offered prayers to the Lord. Here are a few points:
The Lord is transcendental to the influence of material time. He is the predominator, while we are the predominated. The Lord is thus the shelter for all who aspire to attain the ultimate goal, worshiped by all demigods and important personalities.
The Lord is the well-wisher of all. When we follow the instructions he gives through the scriptures, devotees, and the spiritual master, we become successful in all spheres of life.
Our relationship with the Lord is eternal, it can neither be broken nor destroyed. This human form is a chance to revive it.
Even the demigods rarely have the opportunity to see the Lord, but the inhabitants of Dvaraka can constantly see Him face to face due to their purity and love. This is the original state of the soul, which can be unveiled only by the practice of devotional service.
The opposite of Kṛṣṇa is māyā or illusion. Without Him, all our knowledge is covered by illusion. We need thus to keep ourselves always in the presence of Krsna.
We are molecular parts of the whole spirit and are separated from the Lord by the artificial covering of māyā, the illusory energy. When this curtain is removed, we can see the Lord face to face, and all miseries of life end.
The opulence of Dvaraka is an example of how a society can become prosperous by the practice of Krsna Consciousness and the use of the gifts of nature. Prabhupada mentions in the purport that when people have the choice, they prefer to live in beautiful areas with nature, but in modern societies, this is available only to the rich. Poor people are forced to live in congested areas in the cities, which are just hellish. In Dvaraka however, the whole city was beautiful.
“It is understood that the whole dhāma, or residential quarter, was surrounded by such gardens and parks with reservoirs of water where lotuses grew. It is understood that all the people depended on nature’s gifts of fruits and flowers without industrial enterprises promoting filthy huts and slums for residential quarters. Advancement of civilization is estimated not on the growth of mills and factories to deteriorate the finer instincts of the human being, but on developing the potent spiritual instincts of human beings and giving them a chance to go back to Godhead.”
Not only was the city extraordinarily beautiful, but the inhabitants decorated the whole city with natural ingredients, like plantain trees, mango leaves, pots with water and grains, fruits, flowers, and so on, instead of paper and plastic like nowadays.
Apart from the decoration, it’s described that Brahmanas came forth to receive the Lord, alongside elephants, men blowing conchshells and musical horns, and so on. Vedic hymns were chanted and all classes of people offered their respects.
Srimad Bhagavatam mentions that many hundreds of well-known prostitutes began to proceed on various vehicles. One may question how prostitutes are present in Dvaraka, the city of the Lord. The first point is that these were not prostitutes in the modern term, but more like courtesans, unmarried girls who would make a career by chanting, dancing, and entertaining. They are described as prostitutes because, in the course of their activities, they would have affairs with different men, just like the apsaras in the celestial planets, who are also described as prostitutes in different passages. On the positive side, however, these ladies were all devotees and were very eager to meet the Lord. This shows how persons in all ways of life can be purified by the process of devotional service.
In the purport, Srila Prabhupada brings the topic closer to our reality by making the point that activities like drinking and prostitution are present in every society and are very difficult to eradicate. The real process of reformation is to enlighten people in Krsna Consciousness. As Krsna mentions in the Bhagavad-Gita (9.32), all classes of people can attain perfection if they take shelter in devotional service, including meat-eaters, drunkards, and prostitutes.
Similarly, the Lord was also greeted by dramatists, artists, dancers, singers, historians, genealogists, etc. This shows that all their professions were also present in Dvaraka, but they were all devotees, and their activities were centered around the activities of the Lord. In his purport, Prabhupada makes the point that the presence of such devotee artists is important for the spiritual enlightenment of the common man, by presenting knowledge from the Vedic literature in ways that are simple and capable of attracting the less enlightened classes of the population. Not everyone will come for a philosophical discussion, but everyone can come for a theatrical performance or a movie.
A little later, it’s mentioned that the Lord reciprocated the greetings of all, showing that he is attentive to all kinds of devotees and the Lord is equally affectionate to all. No one who approaches the Lord sincerely is ever rejected or barred from entering His kingdom. It’s just up to us to accept His association or not.
“Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, approached them and offered due honor and respect to each and every one of the friends, relatives, citizens and all others who came to receive and welcome Him. The almighty Lord greeted everyone present by bowing His head, exchanging greetings, embracing, shaking hands, looking and smiling, giving assurances, and awarding benedictions, even to the lowest in rank. (SB 1.11.21-22)
These descriptions give us a glimpse of life in the spiritual world. Due to the influence of the false ego, the soul becomes ready to accept any material identity, from a demigod to a dog or hog, or even a tree, any position except his eternal position as a servant of the Lord. These descriptions are included in the Srimad Bhagavatam to help us become attracted to the eternal reality of the spiritual world, which is centered around such sweet exchanges of love with Krsna. The more we become attracted to these descriptions, the more our attraction for the temporary and illusory world of matter will be slackened.
At the end of the third canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, Sukadeva Goswami describes four categories of devotional service, according to the teachings of Lord Kapila. We may think that devotional service is always transcendental, but that’s not the case. Although the propensity of serving Krsna is originally present in the soul, as long as we are conditioned it may be expressed in impure ways through the three modes of material nature, just like the light of the sun can become blue or red when passing through colored glasses.
What are the symptoms of devotional service in the mode of ignorance? “Devotional service executed by a person who is envious, proud, violent and angry, and who is a separatist, is considered to be in the mode of darkness.” (SB 3.29.8)
What about devotional service in passion? “The worship of Deities in the temple by a separatist, with a motive for material enjoyment, fame, and opulence, is devotion in the mode of passion.” (SB 3.29.9)
“Separatist” means someone who has different interests from the Lord, someone who is still acting under material desires, false ego and the dictations of the mind. What he wants is different from what the Lord wants, which creates lots of contradictions in his service. Some of his actions may be positive, while others will be very negative.
Finally, there is service in the mode of goodness, which is based on the idea of achieving liberation (not pure, but almost there) and pure devotional service, which “is exhibited when one’s mind is at once attracted to hearing the transcendental name and qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is residing in everyone’s heart. Just as the water of the Ganges flows naturally down towards the ocean, such devotional ecstasy, uninterrupted by any material condition, flows towards the Supreme Lord.” (SB 3.29.11-12)
In the 4th canto, Sukadeva Goswami proceeds by giving practical examples of these different qualities of devotional service and what results they award.
In this world, we tend to rely on our intelligence to solve problems and acquire knowledge. One could argue that the best method for understanding anything, including the Absolute truth, is the process of logical examination.
To this, Vyasadeva answers (Brahma Sutras, 1.1.3): śāstra-yonitvāt. The speculations of the logicians can’t teach us about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He may only be known by the revelation of the Vedic scriptures.
It’s not possible to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead by just logic and speculation. All conditioned souls share four defects, which are having imperfect senses and intelligence, being propense to make mistakes, cheating others, and being illusioned.
We obtain imperfect information by using our imperfect senses, which are further processed using our imperfect intelligence. Because we tend to be illusioned, we often process information under a completely incorrect framework, which increases the opportunities for mistakes. Not only that, but we may also be cheated by others who want to take advantage of us, or we may cheat ourselves by finding excuses to believe whatever we want to believe. Due to all these factors, it’s impossible to reach perfect knowledge through mere logic and speculation. Perfect knowledge has to come from outside the material universe, from the transcendental world, which brings us to the Vedic scriptures.
Originally, the divisions in the Varnasrama system are based on qualification and not on birth. Krsna declares in the Bhagavad-Gita (4.13) that cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me).
However, with the advent of Kali-yuga, different sectors of society started defending the division of classes based on hereditary rights, claiming that one can’t be a Brahmana without being born of a Brahmana father. This was one of the decisive factors in the destruction of Vedic culture since the establishment of a hereditary system allows unqualified sons of Brahmanas to assume the position of Brahmas and thus destroy the society from within.
According to them, if one is born in a degraded family, one has to take another birth in order to purify himself. Without changing one’s body, it’s not possible to become purified.
Our acaryas however energetically opposed this idea. Apart from the idea that a Vaishnava born in a sinful family can be initiated as a brahmana if he shows the proper qualifications, they defended that devotional service is transcendental, and therefore not limited to any particular country, class, society, or circumstance. Any person can become a Vaishnava, whether is he born in a pious family in India, or in a family of meat-eaters in the West.
Supported by passages from the scriptures, they established the potency of the holy names and their capacity to elevate even the most sinful persons to the highest platform. Devotional service is thus open for all, being the constitutional occupation of the living entities and once one becomes purified by the practice of devotional service one becomes automatically qualified as a Brahmana, since a Vaishnava is by definition superior to an ordinary Brahmana. A Brahmana is considered superior to the other classes for being established in the mode of goodness, a position that is superseded by a pure Vaishnava. As Prabhupada mentions: “Anyone who is a pure Vaishnava is situated transcendentally, and therefore the highest qualification in the material world, namely, to be in the mode of goodness, has already been achieved by such a person.”
Bhismadeva was defeated by Arjuna and Srikandi during the 10th day of the battle of Kuruksetra. Dozens of arrows transpassed his body, but he landed in such a way that the arrows supported the weight of his body, and he didn’t touch the ground. It looked like he was lying on a bed of arrows. Later, at his request, Arjuna added three arrows under his head, that served as a pillow.
Any regular person would die instantly in this situation, but because Bhismadeva had the blessing he would not die until the time he had chosen, he remained alive and conscious. He was waiting for an auspicious moment to leave his body.
The news that the great Bhismadeva was preparing to leave his body quickly spread, and many great sages and other important personalities came to pay him their respects, including Vyasadeva and Sukadeva Goswami. It’s mentioned that “all the great souls in the universe, namely the ṛṣis amongst the demigods, brāhmaṇas, and kings, all situated in the quality of goodness, were assembled there.”
Chronologically speaking, these events happened around the time of the birth of Pariksit Maharaja, many years before Sukadeva Goswami spoke the Srimad Bhagavatam to him.
We normally think the soul is physically situated inside the heart together with Paramatma, and that both move “physically” to another body at the time of death. This simplistic idea helps us to understand several concepts, starting with the idea that there is a soul and that the soul is dependent on the Supersoul, but in reality, is actually a little more complicated than that.
The first problem is that there is nothing “physical” connected with the soul. Although the soul is described as a particle of consciousness, it is not a particle in the physical sense, with weight and measurable dimensions. On Bg 2.24, Krsna describes the soul as sarva-gataḥ (all-pervading), sthāṇuḥ (unchangeable) and acalaḥ (immovable). Just like Ksirodakasay Vishnu (Paramamatma) pervades the whole universe, being present everywhere, the soul pervades the body, and thus our consciousness is present in all parts of the body. We can feel a pinch in our ear the same way we can feel it on our toe. This shows that the soul is more than just the idea we have of a particle. If the soul was something similar to a grain of sand, for example, it would not be able to permeate the whole body. If we would accept that this particle is dissolved, and thus spreads through the whole body, then we would contradict the principle of the soul being unchangeable. The soul is a “particle” of consciousness means the soul is a portion of consciousness and not a “particle” in the literal sense.
Another idea we may have difficulty conceiving is that the soul is acalaḥ (immovable). How can the soul be immovable if we go from one body to the other? It becomes easier to understand when we understand that the soul is consciousness and not a physical particle. The soul is part and parcel of Krsna and is always situated in his original position together with Krsna. The soul can’t be moved from this position. It’s not possible to separate the soul from Krsna.
One point in Vaishnava philosophy that is very different from what most historians believe is the eternality of the Vedas. We believe the Vedas are eternal, being present since the beginning of time. However, when historians study archaeological evidence, it appears that the Vedas although very ancient passed through a process of evolution and change. How is that?
The point is that indeed, the Vedas passed through a process of transformation about 5000 years ago, but it was different from what is believed by most historians.
The point is that in the previous Dvapara-yuga, the knowledge of the Vedas was practically destroyed, with the followers of the Vedas degenerating into six separate schools, none of which conserved the proper understanding of the scriptures.
Prabhupada mentions in his purport to Bg 17.3 that “It should be understood that if one’s heart is in the mode of goodness his faith is also in the mode of goodness. If his heart is in the mode of passion, his faith is also in the mode of passion. And if his heart is in the mode of darkness, illusion, his faith is also thus contaminated.”
Krsna Consciousness is by definition transcendental, and thus free from the influence of the three modes. It’s not easy for a person influenced by passion and ignorance to immediately go to a transcendental platform, therefore the mode of material goodness works as a bridge between these different stages. Only in the mode of goodness can we properly understand the process of devotional service and practice it. As long as we are conditioned by the modes of passion and ignorance our understanding and actions will be covered by these lower modes and it will be difficult to do so.
On Bg 14.17, Krsna explains that “From the mode of goodness, real knowledge develops; from the mode of passion, greed develops; and from the mode of ignorance develop foolishness, madness and illusion.” The three modes of material nature are called gunas in Sanskrit, a word that means “rope”. Just like ropes, these three modes force us to act in certain ways. Once one comes into the grip of a certain combination of the modes, it’s very hard to resist its influence. The best we can do is to reduce the influence of passion and ignorance and increase the influence of goodness by developing habits, activities, and thoughts that are conducive to it. That’s why through the Bhagavad-Gita Krsna gives us so many examples connected with the three modes, so we can understand the path to take.
