SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM: CANTO 1

(1) Sûta said: "Vidura* while traveling to the different places of pilgrimage, had received knowledge of the destination of the self from the great sage Maitreya, and by that knowledge sufficiently acquainted with everything to be known, returned he to the city of Hastinâpura. (2) With all the questions he had asked having grown one in devotion to Govinda in the presence of Maitreya, had Vidura refrained from questioning any further. (3-4) Arriving there, was he, o brahmins, welcomed by Yudhishthhira and his younger brothers, Dhritarâshthra, Sâtyaki and Sañjaya, Kripâcârya, Kuntî, Gândhârî, Draupadî, Subhadrâ, Uttarâ, Kripî, other wives of the family members of the Pândavas, and other ladies with their sons. (5) As if they had been awakened from death they approached him in great delight to receive him with all respect with embraces and obeisances. (6) In their affection they emotionally shed tears because of the anxiety and grief they had felt from the separation. King Yudhishthhira then arranged for a reception getting him seated.

(7) After being fed sumptuously, having rested and being seated comfortably, bowed the king humbly down to address him in the presence of everybody. (8) He said: 'Do you remember how we, brought up under the wings of your care, along with our mother were released from various calamities like poisoning and arson? (9) How did you maintain your livelihood as you traveled the surface of the earth and in which holy places of pilgrimage have you been of service here on this planet? (10) Devotees like your goodness are converted into holy places themselves, o powerful one; having the Supreme Personality in your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage. (11) Dear uncle, can you tell us what you saw or heard about our friends and well-wishers? Are the descendants of Yadu, who with Krishna are rapt in their love for God, all happy where they are living?'

(12) Thus being asked by the king, described he properly, one subject after the other, all he had experienced, without mentioning the destruction of the dynasty. (13) Because he didn't want to upset them was he as graceful not to expound on this in fact so unpalatable and unbearable way of mankind's behaving. (14) Thus resided the sage, who was treated like a god, for a few days with them, so that he could make a difference with his eldest brother and all would be happy. (15) For the time that Vidura played the part of a s'ûdra [a working class man], because of a hundred year curse of the sage Mandûka Muni [who under his responsibility was treated unjustly], was it Aryamâ** who administered punishment as was suitable for the sinful ones.

(16) When Yudhishthhira saw that there was a grandson in the dynasty fit for ruling the kingdom he had retreived, enjoyed he together with his politically capable brothers a life of great wealth. (17) The insurmountable and imperceptible, eternal Time surpasses, superior, all those who are inattentive and engrossed in the mind of attachment to family affairs. (18) Vidura, knowing this, said to Dhritarâshthra: 'O King, please withdraw yourself from here without delay, just see how fear has taken the lead in your life. (19) In this material world there is no one or anything to escape from this fear, for that fear concerns the Supreme Lord approaching us all in the form of eternal Time. (20) Inevitably overtaken by the pull of time must a person, just like that, give up this life dear as it is to everyone, not to mention the wealth and such he has acquired. (21) With your father, brother, well-wishers and sons all dead, with your life expended and your body decrepit, you live in another man's home. (22) You have been blind since you were born, don't hear that well anymore, your memory fails and recently your teeth loosened, your liver gives you trouble, and you are loudly coughing up mucus. (23) Alas, how powerful is the living being its attachment to life! It is that strong that it makes you, like a household-dog, eat the remnants of the food left over by Bhîma [your Pândava nephew]. (24) How can you subsist on the grace of those whom you tried to set afire, poison and whose wife you insulted usurping their kingdom? (25) Whether you like it or not, you will, however much you value your life, have to face the fact that this miserly body will dwindle and deteriorate like an old garment. (26) Someone is courageous and wise if he, unconcerned in being freed from all obligations, accepts that he has to head for an unknown destination when he is no longer able to use his body properly. (27) Anyone in this world who, by his own understanding or having learned it from others, arrives at consciousness in having awakened from his material attachment and next leaves home with the Lord installed in his heart, is certainly a first class human being. (28) Therefore, please leave for the North without letting your relatives know where you are heading for; hereafter will soon the time arrive of a general diminishing of the qualities of men [Kali-yuga].' (29) Having heard this broke the old king of the Ajamîdha family, in respect of the wisdom of his younger brother Vidura, determined with the strong family ties and left he in that direction which was set for the path of liberation. (30) He was followed by the chaste and worthy daughter of King Subala [Gândhârî] who went along with her husband to the Himalayas - the place that is the delight of those who took up the staff of renunciation like they were fighters accepting the legitimate of a good beating.

(31) Returning to the palace was it he who considered no one his enemy [Yudhishthhira], who, having worshiped the demigods with oblations, obeisances and gifts for the brahmins, wanted to pay respects to the elderly, but he couldn't find his two uncles or aunt Gândhârî. (32) Anxious, he turned to Sañjaya the son of Gavalgana [the assistant who gave the blind Dhritarâshthra the account of the battle], and said to him: 'Where is our old, blind uncle? (33) Where is my well-wisher Vidura and mother Gândhârî who was grieving over losing her offspring? Has the old king, ungrateful to me for having lost his sons, in a mind doubtful of my offenses, drowned himself together with his wife in the Ganges in his distress? (34) After the fall down of my father King Pându, were they the well-wishers protecting us all, small children still - where have my uncles gone from here?' "

(35) Sûta said: "Sañjaya anxious in his compassion not to see his master, was upset about the separation, and could, being too aggrieved, not speak a word in reply. (36) Thinking of the feet of his master with his hands wiping the tears of his face, tried he with all that was in him to regain his mind and answer King Yudhishthhira. (37) Sañjaya said: 'I do not know of the determination of your uncles or Gândhârî, o descendant of the Kuru dynasty - o great King, these great souls have led me astray.' (38) At that moment appeared the supreme personality Nârada on the scene with his musical instrument and after Yudhishthhira and his younger brothers had gotten up from their seats and, properly welcoming the sage, had offered him their obeisances, said the king: (39) 'O Supreme One, I do not know in which direction my uncles and my ascetic aunt, who is so aggrieved over the loss of her sons, have left from here. (40) Like the captain on a ship in the vast ocean are you the Lord to direct us to the other side.'

Thus being addressed began the divine personality Nârada, the greatest among the wise philosophers of the eternal, to speak: (41) 'O King, never lament for whatever reason, for you are under the control of the Supreme Lord. All living beings and their leaders in this world perform for that reason their ceremonies to be protected. He is the one who brings all together and also disperses them. (42) The way a cow is bound by a rope through the nose, is one likewise bound by the hymns and precepts of the Veda to follow according the demands of the Supreme. (43) The way in this world playthings at will are brought together and set apart again, it happens also to the people who subjected to the game of the Lord are brought together and set apart again. (44) Whether one considers persons to be eternal [souls] or temporal [bodies] or else as being both [embodied souls] or neither of both [because of the Absolute Truth which is transcendental to all atributes], they never under any circumstance should be a reason for lamentation; one is only of that state because one is emotionally involved or out of ones mind. (45) Therefore, o King, give up the anxiety you feel because of a lack of self knowledge, and stop thinking how these helpless poor creatures would be able to survive without you. (46) How is this body which is made up of the five elements [fire, water, air, earth and ether] and is controlled by time, materially motivated action and the modes of nature [kâla, karma and gunas], capable of protecting others when it is just as well bitten by that snake? (47) Those who have no hands [the animals] are delivered to the ones who do have hands [the human beings]; living beings without limbs [like grasses] are delivered to the four-legged [like the cows]; the weaker ones are delivered to the stronger ones and thus is one living being feeding on another. (48) Therefore have only eyes for the outer form of Him who by the power of illusion appears as a diversity; He, o King, is the Supreme Personality, the Supersoul who self-illuminating manifests Himself as well as the object as the subject of the different living beings. (49) That Unborn One, the Father of Creation, has, o King, at present descended in this world in a form of [the all-devouring] Time, in order to eliminate all the enemies of the enlightened. (50) For the enlightened souls has the Lord performed what needed to be done, and the rest remains to be seen; till that time, that is to say, for as long as He is still present on earth, may you all follow Him in that.

(51) Dhritarâshthra, his brother Vidura and his wife Gândhârî have departed for the southern side of the Himalayas where sages take shelter. (52) The place is known as Saptasrota [seven sources] because the river of the heavens [the Svardhunî] sprouted there and to the satisfaction of the respective wise divided herself into the seven currents we know as her branches. (53) By bathing regularly there, sacrificing in the fire according the regulative principles and fasting on drinking water only, has Dhritarâshthra completly subdued his mind and senses and is he thus freed from the dependency he had with his family. (54) From sitting postures, breath-control and turning inward from the six senses can one, absorbed in the Lord, conquer the contaminations of passion, goodness and ignorance. (55) By allowing his self to merge in the wisdom and merging in wisdom with the pure witness, has he united with the Absolute [brahman], the reservoir of pure being, the way the air within a pot merges with the space outside. (56) With the ending of the material modes and the suspension of their effects, will his senses and mind no longer being fed come to a stop when he, not hindered by renouncing all duties, sits concentrating without moving a limb. (57) I expect that he will quit his body five days from today, o King, and will allow it to turn to ashes. (58) While outside observing the body of her husband being [mystically set] afire along with his cottage, will his chaste wife in full consciousness follow him in the fire. (59) Vidura, witnessing that wonderful incident, o son of the Kuru-dynasty, will, with a mixed feeling of delight and grief, leave from there to embark on an inspiring pilgrimage.' (60) After thus having addressed the king rose Nârada, along with his stringed instrument, up into heaven. Yudhishthhira, taking his instructions at heart, then gave up all his lamentation."

Sûta said: "Vidura* while traveling to the different places of pilgrimage, had received knowledge of the destination of the self from the great sage Maitreya, and by that knowledge sufficiently acquainted with everything to be known, returned he to the city of Hastinâpura.

S'rî Sûta Gosvâmî said: While traveling on a pilgrimage, Vidura received knowledge of the destination of the self from the great sage Maitreya and then returned to Hastinâpura. He became as well versed in the subject as he desired. (Vedabase)

Text 2

With all the questions he had asked having grown one in devotion to Govinda in the presence of Maitreya, had Vidura refrained from questioning any further.

After asking various questions and becoming established in the transcendental loving service of Lord Krishna, Vidura retired from putting questions to Maitreya Muni. (Vedabase)

Text 3-4:

Arriving there, was he, o brahmins, welcomed by Yudhishthhira and his younger brothers, Dhritarâshthra, Sâtyaki and Sañjaya, Kripâcârya, Kuntî, Gândhârî, Draupadî, Subhadrâ, Uttarâ, Kripî, other wives of the family members of the Pândavas, and other ladies with their sons.

When they saw Vidura return to the palace, all the inhabitants--Mahârâja Yudhishthhira, his younger brothers, Dhritarâshthra, Sâtyaki, Sañjaya, Kripâcârya, Kuntî, Gândhârî, Draupadî, Subhadrâ, Uttarâ, Kripî, many other wives of the Kauravas, and other ladies with children--all hurried to him in great delight. It so appeared that they had regained their consciousness after a long period. (Vedabase)

Text 5

As if they had been awakened from death they approached him in great delight to receive him with all respect with embraces and obeisances.

With great delight they all approached him, as if life had returned to their bodies. They exchanged obeisances and welcomed each other with embraces. (Vedabase)

Text 6

In their affection they emotionally shed tears because of the anxiety and grief they had felt from the separation. King Yudhishthhira then arranged for a reception getting him seated.

Due to anxieties and long separation, they all cried out of affection. King Yudhishthhira then arranged to offer sitting accommodations and a reception. (Vedabase)

Text 7

After being fed sumptuously, having rested and being seated comfortably, bowed the king humbly down to address him in the presence of everybody.

After Vidura ate sumptuously and took sufficient rest, he was comfortably seated. Then the King began to speak to him, and all who were present there listened. (Vedabase)

Text 8

He said: 'Do you remember how we, brought up under the wings of your care, along with our mother were released from various calamities like poisoning and arson?

Mahârâja Yudhishthhira said: My uncle, do you remember how you always protected us, along with our mother, from all sorts of calamities? Your partiality, like the wings of a bird, saved us from poisoning and arson. (Vedabase)

Text 9

How did you maintain your livelihood as you traveled the surface of the earth and in which holy places of pilgrimage have you been of service here on this planet?

While traveling on the surface of the earth, how did you maintain your livelihood? At which holy places and pilgrimage sites did you render service? (Vedabase)

Text 10

Devotees like your goodness are converted into holy places themselves, o powerful one; having the Supreme Personality in your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage.

My Lord, devotees like your good self are verily holy places personified. Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage. (Vedabase)

Text 11

Dear uncle, can you tell us what you saw or heard about our friends and well-wishers? Are the descendants of Yadu, who with Krishna are rapt in their love for God, all happy where they are living?'

My uncle, you must have visited Dvârakâ. In that holy place are our friends and well-wishers, the descendants of Yadu, who are always rapt in the service of the Lord S'rî Krishna. You might have seen them or heard about them. Are they all living happily in their abodes? (Vedabase)

Text 12

Thus being asked by the king, described he properly, one subject after the other, all he had experienced, without mentioning the destruction of the dynasty.

Thus being questioned by Mahârâja Yudhishthhira, Mahâtmâ Vidura gradually described everything he had personally experienced, except news of the annihilation of the Yadu dynasty. (Vedabase)

Text 13

Because he didn't want to upset them was he as graceful not to expound on this in fact so unpalatable and unbearable way of mankind's behaving.

Compassionate Mahâtmâ Vidura could not stand to see the Pândavas distressed at any time. Therefore he did not disclose this unpalatable and unbearable incident because calamities come of their own accord. (Vedabase)

Text 14

Thus resided the sage, who was treated like a god, for a few days with them, so that he could make a difference with his eldest brother and all would be happy.

Thus Mahâtmâ Vidura, being treated just like a godly person by his kinsmen, remained there for a certain period just to rectify the mentality of his eldest brother and in this way bring happiness to all the others. (Vedabase)

Text 15

For the time that Vidura played the part of a s'ûdra [a working class man], because of a hundred year curse of the sage Mandûka Muni [who under his responsibility was treated unjustly], was it Aryamâ** who administered punishment as was suitable for the sinful ones.

As long as Vidura played the part of a s'ûdra, being cursed by Mandûka Muni, Aryamâ officiated at the post of Yamarâja to punish those who committed sinful acts. (Vedabase)

Text 16:

When Yudhishthhira saw that there was a grandson in the dynasty fit for ruling the kingdom he had retreived, enjoyed he together with his politically capable brothers a life of great wealth.

Having won his kingdom and observed the birth of one grandson competent to continue the noble tradition of his family, Mahârâja Yudhishthhira reigned peacefully and enjoyed uncommon opulence in cooperation with his younger brothers, who were all expert administrators to the common people. (Vedabase)

Text 17

The insurmountable and imperceptible, eternal Time surpasses, superior, all those who are inattentive and engrossed in the mind of attachment to family affairs.

Insurmountable, eternal time imperceptibly overcomes those who are too much attached to family affairs and are always engrossed in their thought. (Vedabase)

Text 18

Vidura, knowing this, said to Dhritarâshthra: 'O King, please withdraw yourself from here without delay, just see how fear has taken the lead in your life.

Mahâtmâ Vidura knew all this, and therefore he addressed Dhritarâshthra, saying: My dear King, please get out of here immediately. Do not delay. Just see how fear has overtaken you. (Vedabase)

Text 19

In this material world there is no one or anything to escape from this fear, for that fear concerns the Supreme Lord approaching us all in the form of eternal Time.

This frightful situation cannot be remedied by any person in this material world. My lord, it is the Supreme Personality of Godhead as eternal time [kâla] that has approached us all. (Vedabase)

Text 20

Inevitably overtaken by the pull of time must a person, just like that, give up this life dear as it is to everyone, not to mention the wealth and such he has acquired.

Whoever is under the influence of supreme kâla [eternal time] must surrender his most dear life, and what to speak of other things, such as wealth, honor, children, land and home. (Vedabase)

Text 21

With your father, brother, well-wishers and sons all dead, with your life expended and your body decrepit, you live in another man's home.

Your father, brother, well-wishers and sons are all dead and passed away. You yourself have expended the major portion of your life, your body is now overtaken by invalidity, and you are living in the home of another. (Vedabase)

Text 22

You have been blind since you were born, don't hear that well anymore, your memory fails and recently your teeth loosened, your liver gives you trouble, and you are loudly coughing up mucus.

You have been blind from your very birth, and recently you have become hard of hearing. Your memory is shortened, and your intelligence is disturbed. Your teeth are loose, your liver is defective, and you are coughing up mucus. (Vedabase)

Text 23

Alas, how powerful is the living being its attachment to life! It is that strong that it makes you, like a household-dog, eat the remnants of the food left over by Bhîma [your Pândava nephew].

Alas, how powerful are the hopes of a living being to continue his life. Verily, you are living just like a household dog and are eating remnants of food given by Bhîma. (Vedabase)

Text 24

How can you subsist on the grace of those whom you tried to set afire, poison and whose wife you insulted usurping their kingdom?

There is no need to live a degraded life and subsist on the charity of those whom you tried to kill by arson and poisoning. You also insulted one of their wives and usurped their kingdom and wealth. (Vedabase)

Text 25

Whether you like it or not, you will, however much you value your life, have to face the fact that this miserly body will dwindle and deteriorate like an old garment.

Despite your unwillingness to die and your desire to live even at the cost of honor and prestige, your miserly body will certainly dwindle and deteriorate like an old garment. (Vedabase)

Text 26

Someone is courageous and wise if he, unconcerned in being freed from all obligations, accepts that he has to head for an unknown destination when he is no longer able to use his body properly.

He is called undisturbed who goes to an unknown, remote place and, freed from all obligations, quits his material body when it has become useless. (Vedabase)

Text 27

Anyone in this world who, by his own understanding or having learned it from others, arrives at consciousness in having awakened from his material attachment and next leaves home with the Lord installed in his heart, is certainly a first class human being.

He is certainly a first-class man who awakens and understands, either by himself or from others, the falsity and misery of this material world and thus leaves home and depends fully on the Personality of Godhead residing within his heart. (Vedabase)

Text 28

Therefore, please leave for the North without letting your relatives know where you are heading for; hereafter will soon the time arrive of a general diminishing of the qualities of men [Kali-yuga].

Please, therefore, leave for the North immediately, without letting your relatives know, for soon that time will approach which will diminish the good qualities of men. (Vedabase)

Text 29

Having heard this broke the old king of the Ajamîdha family, in respect of the wisdom of his younger brother Vidura, determined with the strong family ties and left he in that direction which was set for the path of liberation.

Thus Mahârâja Dhritarâshthra, the scion of the family of Ajamîdha, firmly convinced by introspective knowledge [prajñâ], broke at once the strong network of familial affection by his resolute determination. Thus he immediately left home to set out on the path of liberation, as directed by his younger brother Vidura. (Vedabase)

Text 30

He was followed by the chaste and worthy daughter of King Subala [Gândhârî] who went along with her husband to the Himalayas - the place that is the delight of those who took up the staff of renunciation like they were fighters accepting the legitimate of a good beating.

The gentle and chaste Gândhârî, who was the daughter of King Subala of Kandahar [or Gândhâra], followed her husband, seeing that he was going to the Himalaya Mountains, which are the delight of those who have accepted the staff of the renounced order like fighters who have accepted a good lashing from the enemy. (Vedabase)

Text 31

Returning to the palace was it he who considered no one his enemy [Yudhishthhira], who, having worshiped the demigods with oblations, obeisances and gifts for the brahmins, wanted to pay respects to the elderly, but he couldn't find his two uncles or aunt Gândhârî.

Mahârâja Yudhishthhira, whose enemy was never born, performed his daily morning duties by praying, offering fire sacrifice to the sun-god, and offering obeisances, grains, cows, land and gold to the brâhmanas. He then entered the palace to pay respects to the elderly. However, he could not find his uncles or aunt, the daughter of King Subala. (Vedabase)

Text 32

Anxious, he turned to Sañjaya the son of Gavalgana [the assistant who gave the blind Dhritarâshthra the account of the battle], and said to him: 'Where is our old, blind uncle?

Mahârâja Yudhishthhira, full of anxiety, turned to Sañjaya, who was sitting there, and said: O Sañjaya, where is our uncle, who is old and blind? (Vedabase)

Text 33

Where is my well-wisher Vidura and mother Gândhârî who was grieving over losing her offspring? Has the old king, ungrateful to me for having lost his sons, in a mind doubtful of my offenses, drowned himself together with his wife in the Ganges in his distress?

Where is my well-wisher, uncle Vidura, and mother Gândhârî, who is very afflicted due to all her sons' demise? My uncle Dhritarâshthra was also very mortified due to the death of all his sons and grandsons. Undoubtedly I am very ungrateful. Did he, therefore, take my offenses very seriously and, along with his wife, drown himself in the Ganges? (Vedabase)

Text 34

After the fall down of my father King Pându, were they the well-wishers protecting us all, small children still - where have my uncles gone from here?

When my father, Pându, fell down and we were all small children, these two uncles gave us protection from all kinds of calamities. They were always our good well-wishers. Alas, where have they gone from here? (Vedabase)

Text 35:

Sûta said: "Sañjaya anxious in his compassion not to see his master, was upset about the separation, and could, being too aggrieved, not speak a word in reply.

Sûta Gosvâmî said: Because of compassion and mental agitation, Sañjaya, not having seen his own master, Dhritarâshthra, was aggrieved and could not properly reply to Mahârâja Yudhishthhira. (Vedabase)

Text 36:

Thinking of the feet of his master with his hands wiping the tears of his face, tried he with all that was in him to regain his mind and answer King Yudhishthhira.

First he slowly pacified his mind by intelligence, and wiping away his tears and thinking of the feet of his master, Dhritarâshthra, he began to reply to Mahârâja Yudhishthhira. (Vedabase)

Text 37:

Sañjaya said: 'I do not know of the determination of your uncles or Gândhârî, o descendant of the Kuru dynasty - o great King, these great souls have led me astray.

Sañjaya said: My dear descendant of the Kuru dynasty, I have no information of the determination of your two uncles and Gândhârî. O King, I have been cheated by those great souls. (Vedabase)

Text 38:

At that moment appeared the supreme personality Nârada on the scene with his musical instrument and after Yudhishthhira and his younger brothers had gotten up from their seats and, properly welcoming the sage, had offered him their obeisances, said the king:

While Sañjaya was thus speaking, S'rî Nârada, the powerful devotee of the Lord, appeared on the scene carrying his tumburu. Mahârâja Yudhishthhira and his brothers received him properly by getting up from their seats and offering obeisances. (Vedabase)

Text 39:

'O Supreme One, I do not know in which direction my uncles and my ascetic aunt, who is so aggrieved over the loss of her sons, have left from here.

Mahârâja Yudhishthhira said: O godly personality, I do not know where my two uncles have gone. Nor can I find my ascetic aunt who is grief-stricken by the loss of all her sons. (Vedabase)

Text 40:

Like the captain on a ship in the vast ocean are you the Lord to direct us to the other side.' Thus being addressed began the divine personality Nârada, the greatest among the wise philosophers of the eternal, to speak:

You are like a captain of a ship in a great ocean and you can direct us to our destination. Thus addressed, the godly personality, Devarshi Nârada, greatest of the philosopher devotees, began to speak. (Vedabase)

Text 41:

'O King, never lament for whatever reason, for you are under the control of the Supreme Lord. All living beings and their leaders in this world perform for that reason their ceremonies to be protected. He is the one who brings all together and also disperses them.

S'rî Nârada said: O pious King, do not lament for anyone, for everyone is under the control of the Supreme Lord. Therefore all living beings and their leaders carry on worship to be well protected. It is He only who brings them together and disperses them. (Vedabase)

Text 42:

The way a cow is bound by a rope through the nose, is one likewise bound by the hymns and precepts of the Veda to follow according the demands of the Supreme.

As a cow, bound through the nose by a long rope, is conditioned, so also human beings are bound by different Vedic injunctions and are conditioned to obey the orders of the Supreme. (Vedabase)

Text 43:

The way in this world playthings at will are brought together and set apart again, it happens also to the people who subjected to the game of the Lord are brought together and set apart again.

As a player sets up and disperses his playthings according to his own sweet will, so the supreme will of the Lord brings men together and separates them. (Vedabase)

Text 44:

Whether one considers persons to be eternal [souls] or temporal [bodies] or else as being both [embodied souls] or neither of both [because of the Absolute Truth which is transcendental to all atributes], they never under any circumstance constitute a reason for lamentation; one is only of that state because one is emotionally involved or out of ones mind.

O King, in all circumstances, whether you consider the soul to be an eternal principle, or the material body to be perishable, or everything to exist in the impersonal Absolute Truth, or everything to be an inexplicable combination of matter and spirit, feelings of separation are due only to illusory affection and nothing more. (Vedabase)

Text 45:

Therefore, o King, give up the anxiety you feel because of a lack of self knowledge, and stop thinking how these helpless poor creatures would be able to survive without you.

Therefore give up your anxiety due to ignorance of the self. You are now thinking of how they, who are helpless poor creatures, will exist without you. (Vedabase)

Text 46:

How is this body which is made up of the five elements [fire, water, air, earth and ether] and is controlled by time, materially motivated action and the modes of nature [kâla, karma and gunas], capable of protecting others when it is just as well bitten by that snake?

This gross material body made of five elements is already under the control of eternal time [kâla], action [karma] and the modes of material nature [guna]. How, then, can it, being already in the jaws of the serpent, protect others? (Vedabase)

Text 47:

Those who have no hands [the animals] are delivered to the ones who do have hands [the human beings]; living beings without limbs [like grasses] are delivered to the four-legged [like the cows]; the weaker ones are delivered to the stronger ones and thus is one living being feeding on another.

Those who are devoid of hands are prey for those who have hands; those devoid of legs are prey for the four-legged. The weak are the subsistence of the strong, and the general rule holds that one living being is food for another. (Vedabase)

Text 48:

Therefore have only eyes for the outer form of Him who by the power of illusion appears as a diversity; He, o King, is the Supreme Personality, the Supersoul who self-illuminating manifests Himself as well as the object as the subject of the different living beings.

Therefore, O King, you should look to the Supreme Lord only, who is one without a second and who manifests Himself by different energies and is both within and without. (Vedabase)

Text 49:

That Unborn One, the Father of Creation, has, o King, at present descended in this world in a form of [the all-devouring] Time, in order to eliminate all the enemies of the enlightened.

That Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord S'rî Krishna, in the guise of all-devouring time [kâla-rûpa] has now descended on earth to eliminate the envious from the world. (Vedabase)

Text 50:

For the enlightened souls has the Lord performed what needed to be done, and the rest remains to be seen; till that time, that is to say, for as long as He is still present on earth, may you all follow Him in that.

The Lord has already performed His duties to help the demigods, and He is awaiting the rest. You Pândavas may wait as long as the Lord is here on earth. (Vedabase)

Text 51:

Dhritarâshthra, his brother Vidura and his wife Gândhârî have departed for the southern side of the Himalayas where sages take shelter.

O King, your uncle Dhritarâshthra, his brother Vidura and his wife Gândhârî have gone for the southern side of the Himalaya Mountains, where there are shelters of the great sages. (Vedabase)

Text 52:

The place is known as Saptasrota [seven sources] because the river of the heavens [the Svardhunî] sprouted there and to the satisfaction of the respective wise divided herself into the seven currents we know as her branches.

The place is called Saptasrota ["divided by seven"] because there the waters of the sacred Ganges were divided into seven branches. This was done for the satisfaction of the seven great rishis. (Vedabase)

Text 53:

By bathing regularly there, sacrificing in the fire according the regulative principles and fasting on drinking water only, has Dhritarâshthra completly subdued his mind and senses and is he thus freed from the dependency he had with his family.

On the banks at Saptasrota, Dhritarâshthra is now engaged in beginning ashthânga-yoga by bathing three times daily, in the morning, noon and evening, by performing the Agni-hotra sacrifice with fire and by drinking only water. This helps one control the mind and the senses and frees one completely from thoughts of familial affection. (Vedabase)

Text 54:

From sitting postures, breath-control and turning inward from the six senses can one, absorbed in the Lord, conquer the contaminations of passion, goodness and ignorance.

One who has controlled the sitting postures [the yogic âsanas] and the breathing process can turn the senses toward the Absolute Personality of Godhead and thus become immune to the contaminations of the modes of material nature, namely mundane goodness, passion and ignorance. (Veda b ase)

Text 55:

By allowing his self to merge in the wisdom and merging in wisdom with the pure witness, has he united with the Absolute [brahman], the reservoir of pure being, the way the air within a pot merges with the space outside.

Dhritarâshthra will have to amalgamate his pure identity with intelligence and then merge into the Supreme Being with knowledge of his qualitative oneness, as a living entity, with the Supreme Brahman. Being freed from the blocked sky, he will have to rise to the spiritual sky. (Vedabase)

Text 56:

With the ending of the material modes and the suspension of their effects, will his senses and mind no longer being fed come to a stop when he, not hindered by renouncing all duties, sits concentrating without moving a limb.

He will have to suspend all the actions of the senses, even from the outside, and will have to be impervious to interactions of the senses, which are influenced by the modes of material nature. After renouncing all material duties, he must become immovably established, beyond all sources of hindrances on the path. (Vedabase)

Text 57:

I expect that he will quit his body five days from today, o King, and will allow it to turn to ashes.

O King, he will quit his body, most probably on the fifth day from today. And his body will turn to ashes. (Vedabase)

Text 58:

While outside observing the body of her husband being [mystically set] afire along with his cottage, will his chaste wife in full consciousness follow him in the fire.

While outside observing her husband, who will burn in the fire of mystic power along with his thatched cottage, his chaste wife will enter the fire with rapt attention. (Vedabase)

Text 59:

Vidura, witnessing that wonderful incident, o son of the Kuru-dynasty, will, with a mixed feeling of delight and grief, leave from there to embark on an inspiring pilgrimage.'

Vidura, being affected with delight and grief, will then leave that place of sacred pilgrimage. (Vedabase)

Text 60:

After thus having addressed the king rose Nârada, along with his stringed instrument, up into heaven. Yudhishthhira, taking his instructions at heart, then gave up all his lamentation."

Having spoken thus, the great sage Nârada, along with his vînâ, ascended into outer space. Yudhishthhira kept his instruction in his heart and so was able to get rid of all lamentations. (Vedabase)