SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM: CANTO 1

(1) Sûta said: "Thus was Arjuna, the friend of Krishna, emaciated as he was because of his separation from Krishna, subjected to the various forms of doubt and speculation of his elder brother the king. (2) Because of his grief had his mouth and lotuslike heart dried up and had his bodily luster vanished. Preoccupied with thoughts about the Supreme Lord S'rî Krishna wasn't he able to reply properly. (3) The more he with great difficulty checked the force of his sadness while he wiped the tears out of his eyes, the more he eagerly thought about Him in his affection and the more distressed he became. (4) Remembering Him as well-wisher, benefactor, intimate associate and charioteer, began Arjuna, overwhelmed and heavily breathing, to speak to his eldest brother the king. (5) He said: 'O my King, the Personality of Godhead Hari who treated me like His intimate friend has left me. Now I am bereft of the astounding power that even astonished the gods. (6) I lost Him of whom being separated but for a moment certainly would make all universes appear unfavorable and void of all life, like they were all dead bodies. (7) By the strength of His mercy could I vanquish all the princes who lusted for power at the selection of the bridegroom at King Drupada's palace where I gained Draupadî's hand by piercing the fish-target with my bow. (8) Because of His support was I able to defeat Indra and his godly associates, managed I to enable the god of fire to set ablaze his forest, and could we realize our wonderfully decorated assembly house built by Maya [out of gratitude for saving him from that fire in the forest named Khândava] where all the princes assembled to your honor bringing presents collected from everywhere. (9) Under His influence could our younger brother [Bhîma], who has the strength of a thousand elephants, for the sake of the [râjasûya] sacrifice kill him [Jarâsandha] who was worshiped by many a king. It was He who saved the kings who by Jarâsandha had been brought [to his capital] to be sacrificed to the lord of the ghosts [Mahâbhairava]. They all paid you tribute afterwards. (10) He [in turn] took the life of the husbands [the Kurus] of the wives whose hair was condemned to be loosened because of the fact that the cluster of your wife's [Draupadî's] hair had been loosened, which was beautifully dressed and blessed for the great ceremony. Being caught by the miscreants [the Kurus headed by Duhs'âsana], fell she in tears down at the Feet. (11) He protected us when we ran into trouble, endangered in the forest by the intrigue of our enemies associated with Durvâsâ Muni, who arrived there to eat with his ten thousand disciples. By simply before they came to it accepting the remnants of the food, satisfied He all the three worlds as well as the munis, who at the moment were bathing, by giving them the thought that they had been fed already. (12) Under His influence could I once astonish the Personality of God with the Trident [Lord S'iva] and his wife the daughter of the Himalaya, because of which He and other gods rewarded me with their own weapons. And thus succeeded I, living in this body, to obtain a half-elevated seat in the House of Indra. (13) As a guest of that heaven could I with both my arms, with my bow Gândîva, Indra and all the gods, because of being empowered, o descendant of King Ajamîdha, by Him, the Supreme Personality whom at present I am bereft of, kill the demon Nivâtakavaca.

(14) Because of His friendship alone could I, seated on the chariot, cross the insurmountable ocean of the invincible existence of the military strength of the Kauravas, and thanks alone to His friendship, could I return with the enormous wealth of the enemy; the brilliance of all the jewels I by force took from their heads. (15) It was He who by the power of His glance ended the mental agitation sprouting from the motivation for results of all the fighters who with the wealth of their chariots were positioned on the battlefield, o great King, and from whose ranks I stepped forward with before my eyes the immensity of great royal personalities like Bhîshma, Karna, Drona and S'alya. (16) Under His protection could the very powerful invincible weapons wielded by Drona, Bhîshma, Karna, Bhûris'ravâ, King Sus'armâ, S'alya, King Jayadratha, Bâhlika [a brother of Bhîshma] etc., not touch me, just like when Prahlâda [the famous devotee of Nrisimhadev, the lion-incarnation] was threatened by the demons. (17) Thinking erroneously of Him as only my chariot driver delivered He me, whose feet are rendered service by the intelligent for the sake of salvation. By His mercy were my enemies absentminded and didn't they attack me when I alighted for my thirsty horses. (18) With His smiling face He made jokes and frank with me addressed He me with 'son of Prithâ', 'friend' and 'son of the Kuru dynasty' and such; heartful sayings of my Mâdhava [Krishna] that touch and overwhelm my soul remembering them. (19) When sleeping, sitting, walking and dining together, truthfully confronting one another and so on, I took Him by mistake for a friend alike me, while He, despite of my seeing Him lower in my offenses, tolerated me in the glory of His magnanimity like a friend accepting a friend or a father accepting his child. (20) O Emperor, without the Supreme Personality, my dearmost friend and well-wisher, my heart and soul are vacant. Recently was I, like a weak woman, defeated by infidel cowherds while I was protecting Krishna's wives. (21) Having the same bow, arrows, chariot and horses, I am the same Arjuna and chariot fighter to whom all the kings offered their respects - all this became in a single moment, missing Him, as useless as butter offered to ashes, as money obtained by magic or as seeds sown on barren land.

(22-23) O King, to your question about our friends and relatives in Dvârakâ I can say that they were cursed by the brahmins as a consequence of which they, being drunk with rice wine, like fools killed one another with sticks, not even recognizing each other in that intoxicated state. Only four or five of them remained. (24) It is the Supreme Personality, our Lord, His program that sometimes the living beings kill and at other times protect each other. (25-26) Like in the ocean where the bigger ones eat the smaller and the stronger ones devour the weaker, o King, took the same way the Omnipotent One the burden of all the Yadus in one stroke away from the earth, by having the stronger Yadu kill the weaker one and the bigger Yadu kill the smaller one in a fight. (27) Bearing in mind the words spoken by Govinda, I remember how attractive they are, and how they, imbued with importance and appropriate to the time and circumstance, put an end to the pain in the heart'."

(28) Sûta said: "Thus thinking of the lotus feet of the Lord and what He had instructed in the intimacy of deep friendship, found Arjuna his calm with his mind freed from all material concerns. (29) Constantly remembering the feet of Vâsudeva, increased Arjuna's devotion rapidly and ended the endless ruminations. (30) Recalling the instructions of the Supreme Lord about the transcendental in the midst of the battle and thinking of His time and actions he dispelled the darkness of his ignorance and became master of his senses. (31) Free from lamentation, by his spiritual capacity managing to cut with the doubts raised by the duality of being identified with the material world, was he, due to the transcendence being without the material form, freed from the entanglement of birth and death. (32) Listening to the deliberations about the disappearance of the Supreme Lord to His abode and the end of the Yadu dynasty, Yudhishthhira decided to withdraw himself and also leave for the sake of the soul. (33) Also Queen Kuntî, who had overheard what Arjuna told about the end of the Yadus and the disappearance of the Lord, found, as well as all the others did who were undivided in their devotion for the Lord's transcendence, in her soulful commitment release from her material existence. (34) By taking away the burden of the world was that body [of the Yadu dynasty] relinquished by the Unborn One the way a thorn is thrown away when it is used to extract another thorn, because those thorns to the Lord are one and the same. (35) Like with His Matsya incarnation and others, as a magician giving up one body to accept another one, relinquished He the body He manifested to diminish the burden of the world. (36) When Mukunda [the Lord of Liberation] the Fortunate One so worthwhile to hear about, left this earth - manifested from that very day on Kali[-yuga] itself in full, inauspicious to all whose minds have not awakened.

(37) Yudhishthhira keenly in his capital, state and home as also in the self seeing things grow worse with the vicious circle of avarice, falsehood, dishonesty, irreligion and violence and such, understood that it was time to leave and dressed himself accordingly. (38) His grandson [Parîkchit], who was properly trained and equal to himself in all respects by his qualities, was by the emperor to that in the capital of Hastinâpura enthroned as the master of all land bordered by the seas. (39) At Mathurâ he made Vajra [the son of Aniruddha] king of S'ûrasena, after which he had a prâjâpatya sacrifice performed for being able to find the fire in himself to attain his goal. (40) Renouncing his belt, ornaments and all of that, he became uninterested perfectly being detached from the unlimited bondage. (41) He withdrew his speech into his mind, his mind with his other senses into his breath, his breath he withdrew in death, and in full dedication he united that with the body made of the five elements. (42) Having offered those five elements to the three qualities of nature, he united the thoughtfulness in one indifference, fixing the sumtotal of that in the soul directed to the spiritual soul of the inexhaustible Brahman. (43) Accepting torn clothes, refusing solid food, stopping to talk and untying his hair, he began to look like a dumb madman and an unengaged urchin not listening to anyone as if he had become deaf. (44) Heading for the north he trod, as all others going there, the path of his mindful forefathers, passing his days constantly thinking from within his heart of the Supreme Beyond wherever he went.

(45) In accord with their friend seeing that the Age of Kali and its irreligion had overtaken the citizens on earth, followed all the brothers the eldest one and left they from home. (46) They all, having performed with all the virtue and knowledge of holiness, kept themselves, with the ultimate goal of the living being in mind, steadfast to the lotus feet of the Lord of Vaikunthha. (47-48) That is the destination of those who by positive meditation purified in devotion found liberation in fixing their mind on the transcendental feet of the One Nârâyana. They attained, with their material contaminations washed off, in the same bodies as they were born with the abode which for the materialists absorbed in material concerns is so very difficult to attain. (49) Also Vidura who with his mind and actions was devoted to Krishna, returned after quitting his physical self at Prabhâsa in the company of his forefathers to his own abode [Yama's realm]. (50) Draupadî also, who then had to miss the care of her husbands, concentrated, one-pointed in the full knowledge of Him, herself on Lord Vâsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and reached Him thus. (51) Anyone who hears with devotion of this departure for the ultimate goal of the sons of Pându so dear to the Supreme Lord, will find nothing but good fortune and purity and will gaining in perfection thus arrive at devotion for the Lord."

Sûta said: "Thus was Arjuna, the friend of Krishna, emaciated as he was because of his separation from Krishna, subjected to the various forms of doubt and speculation of his elder brother the king.

Sûta Gosvâmî said: Arjuna, the celebrated friend of Lord Krishna, was grief-stricken because of his strong feeling of separation from Krishna, over and above all Mahârâja Yudhishthhira's speculative inquiries. (Vedabase)

Text 2

Because of his grief had his mouth and lotuslike heart dried up and had his bodily luster vanished. Preoccupied with thoughts about the Supreme Lord S'rî Krishna he wasn't able to reply properly.

Due to grief, Arjuna's mouth and lotuslike heart had dried up. Therefore his body lost all luster. Now, remembering the Supreme Lord, he could hardly utter a word in reply. (Vedabase)

Text 3

The more he with great difficulty checked the force of his sadness while he wiped the tears out of his eyes, the more he eagerly thought about Him in his affection and the more distressed he became.

With great difficulty he checked the tears of grief that smeared his eyes. He was very distressed because Lord Krishna was out of his sight, and he increasingly felt affection for Him. (Vedabase)

Text 4

Remembering Him as well-wisher, benefactor, intimate associate and charioteer, began Arjuna, overwhelmed and heavily breathing, to speak to his eldest brother the king.

Remembering Lord Krishna and His well-wishes, benefactions, intimate familial relations and His chariot driving, Arjuna, overwhelmed and breathing very heavily, began to speak. (Vedabase)

Text 5

He said: 'O my King, the Personality of Godhead Hari who treated me like His intimate friend has left me. Now I am bereft of the astounding power that even astonished the gods.

Arjuna said: O King! The Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari, who treated me exactly like an intimate friend, has left me alone. Thus my astounding power, which astonished even the demigods, is no longer with me. (Vedabase)

Text 6

I lost Him of whom being separated but for a moment certainly would make all universes appear unfavorable and void of all life, like they were all dead bodies.

I have just lost Him whose separation for a moment would render all the universes unfavorable and void, like bodies without life. (Vedabase)

Text 7

By the strength of His mercy could I vanquish all the princes who lusted for power at the selection of the bridegroom at King Drupada's palace where I gained Draupadî's hand by piercing the fish-target with my bow.

Only by His merciful strength was I able to vanquish all the lusty princes assembled at the palace of King Drupada for the selection of the bridegroom. With my bow and arrow I could pierce the fish target and thereby gain the hand of Draupadî. (Vedabase)

Text 8

Because of His support was I able to defeat Indra and his godly associates, managed I to enable the god of fire to set ablaze his forest, and could we realize our wonderfully decorated assembly house built by Maya [out of gratitude for saving him from that fire in the forest named Khândava] where all the princes assembled to your honor bringing presents collected from everywhere.

Because He was near me, it was possible for me to conquer with great dexterity the powerful King of heaven, Indradeva, along with his demigod associates and thus enable the fire-god to devastate the Khândava Forest. And only by His grace was the demon named Maya saved from the blazing Khândava Forest, and thus we could build our assembly house of wonderful architectural workmanship, where all the princes assembled during the performance of Râjasûya-yajña and paid you tributes. (Vedabase)

Text 9

Under His influence could our younger brother [Bhîma], who has the strength of a thousand elephants, for the sake of the [râjasûya] sacrifice kill him [Jarâsandha] who was worshiped by many a king. It was He who saved the kings who by Jarâsandha had been brought [to his capital] to be sacrificed to the lord of the ghosts [Mahâbhairava]. They all paid you tribute afterwards.

Your respectable younger brother, who possesses the strength of ten thousand elephants, killed, by His grace, Jarâsandha, whose feet were worshiped by many kings. These kings had been brought for sacrifice in Jarâsandha's Mahâbhairava-yajña, but they were thus released. Later they paid tribute to Your Majesty. (Vedabase)

Text 10

He [in turn] took the life of the husbands [the Kurus] of the wives whose hair was condemned to be loosened because of the fact that the cluster of your wife's [Draupadî's] hair had been loosened, which was beautifully dressed and sanctified for the great ceremony. Caught as she was by the miscreants [the Kurus headed by Duhs'âsana], fell she in tears down at the Feet.

It was He only who loosened the hair of all the wives of the miscreants who dared open the cluster of your Queen's hair, which had been nicely dressed and sanctified for the great Râjasûya sacrificial ceremony. At that time she fell down at the feet of Lord Krishna with tears in her eyes. (Vedabase)

Text 11

He protected us when we ran into trouble, endangered in the forest by the intrigue of our enemies associated with Durvâsâ Muni, who arrived there to eat with his ten thousand disciples. By simply before they came to it accepting the remnants of the food, satisfied He all the three worlds as well as the munis, who at the moment were bathing, by giving them the thought that they had been fed already.

During our exile, Durvâsâ Muni, who eats with his ten thousand disciples, intrigued with our enemies to put us in dangerous trouble. At that time He [Lord Krishna], simply by accepting the remnants of food, saved us. By His accepting food thus, the assembly of munis, while bathing in the river, felt sumptuously fed. And all the three worlds were also satisfied. (Vedabase)

Text 12

Under His influence could I once astonish the Personality of God with the Trident [Lord S'iva] and his wife the daughter of the Himalaya, because of which He and other gods rewarded me with their own weapons. And thus succeeded I, living in this body, to obtain a half-elevated seat in the House of Indra.

It was by His influence only that in a fight I was able to astonish the personality of god Lord S'iva and his wife, the daughter of Mount Himalaya . Thus he [Lord S'iva] became pleased with me and awarded me his own weapon. Other demigods also delivered their respective weapons to me, and in addition I was able to reach the heavenly planets in this present body and was allowed a half-elevated seat. (Vedabase)

Text 13

As a guest of that heaven could I with both my arms, with my bow Gândîva, Indra and all the gods, because of being empowered, o descendant of King Ajamîdha, by Him, the Supreme Personality whom at present I am bereft of, kill the demon Nivâtakavaca.

When I stayed for some days as a guest in the heavenly planets, all the heavenly demigods, including King Indradeva, took shelter of my arms, which were marked with the Gândîva bow, to kill the demon named Nivâtakavaca. O King, descendant of Ajamîdha, at the present moment I am bereft of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by whose influence I was so powerful. (Vedabase)

Text 14

Because of His friendship alone could I, seated on the chariot, cross the insurmountable ocean of the invincible existence of the military strength of the Kauravas, and thanks alone to His friendship, could I return with the enormous wealth of the enemy; the brilliance of all the jewels I by force took from their heads.

The military strength of the Kauravas was like an ocean in which there dwelled many invincible existences, and thus it was insurmountable. But because of His friendship, I, seated on the chariot, was able to cross over it. And only by His grace was I able to regain the cows and also collect by force many helmets of the kings which were bedecked with jewels that were sources of all brilliance. (Vedabase)

Text 15

It was He who by the power of His glance ended the mental agitation sprouting from the motivation for results of all the fighters who with the wealth of their chariots were positioned on the battlefield, o great King, and from whose ranks I stepped forward with before my eyes the immensity of great royal personalities like Bhîshma, Karna, Drona and S'alya.

It was He only who withdrew the duration of life from everyone and who, in the battlefield, withdrew the speculative power and strength of enthusiasm from the great military phalanx made by the Kauravas, headed by Bhîshma, Karna, Drona, S'alya, etc. Their arrangement was expert and more than adequate, but He [Lord S'rî Krishna], while going forward, did all this. (Ved a base)

Text 16:

Under His protection could the very powerful invincible weapons wielded by Drona, Bhîshma Karna, Bhûris'ravâ, King Sus'armâ, S'alya, King Jayadratha, Bâhlika [a brother of Bhîshma] etc., not touch me, just like when Prahlâda [the famous devotee of Nrisimhadev, the lion-incarnation] was threatened by the demons.

Great generals like Bhîshma, Drona, Karna, Bhûris'ravâ, Sus'armâ, S'alya, Jayadratha, and Bâhlika all directed their invincible weapons against me. But by His [Lord Krishna's] grace they could not even touch a hair on my head. Similarly, Prahlâda Mahârâja, the supreme devotee of Lord Nrisimhadeva, was unaffected by the weapons the demons used against him. (Vedabase)

Text 17

Thinking erroneously of Him as only my chariot driver delivered He me, whose feet are rendered service by the intelligent for the sake of salvation. By His mercy were my enemies absentminded and didn't they attack me when I alighted for my thirsty horses.

It was by His mercy only that my enemies neglected to kill me when I descended from my chariot to get water for my thirsty horses. And it was due to my lack of esteem for my Lord that I dared engage Him as my chariot driver, for He is worshiped and offered services by the best men to attain salvation. (Vedabase)

Text 18

With His smiling face He made jokes and frank with me addressed He me with 'son of Prithâ', 'friend' and 'son of the Kuru dynasty' and such; heartful sayings of my Mâdhava [Krishna] that touch and overwhelm my soul remembering them.

O King! His jokings and frank talks were pleasing and beautifully decorated with smiles. His addresses unto me as "O son of Prithâ, O friend, O son of the Kuru dynasty," and all such heartiness are now remembered by me, and thus I am overwhelmed. (Vedabase)

Text 19

When sleeping, sitting, walking and dining together, truthfully confronting one another and so on, I took Him by mistake for a friend alike me, while He, despite of my seeing Him lower in my offenses, tolerated me in the glory of His magnanimity like a friend accepting a friend or a father accepting his child.

Generally both of us used to live together and sleep, sit and loiter together. And at the time of advertising oneself for acts of chivalry, sometimes, if there were any irregularity, I used to reproach Him by saying, "My friend, You are very truthful." Even in those hours when His value was minimized, He, being the Supreme Soul, used to tolerate all those utterings of mine, excusing me exactly as a true friend excuses his true friend, or a father excuses his son. (Vedabase)

Text 20

O Emperor, without the Supreme Personality, my dearmost friend and well-wisher, my heart and soul are vacant. Recently was I, like a weak woman, defeated by infidel cowherds while I was protecting Krishna's wives.

O Emperor, now I am separated from my friend and dearmost well-wisher, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore my heart appears to be void of everything. In His absence I have been defeated by a number of infidel cowherd men while I was guarding the bodies of all the wives of Krishna. (Vedabase)

Text 21

Having the same bow, arrows, chariot and horses, I am the same Arjuna and chariot fighter to whom all the kings offered their respects - all this became in a single moment, missing Him, as useless as butter offered to ashes, as money obtained by magic or as seeds sown on barren land.

I have the very same Gândîva bow, the same arrows, the same chariot drawn by the same horses, and I use them as the same Arjuna to whom all the kings offered their due respects. But in the absence of Lord Krishna, all of them, at a moment's notice, have become null and void. It is exactly like offering clarified butter on ashes, accumulating money with a magic wand or sowing seeds on barren land. (Vedabase)

Text 22-23

O King, to your question about our friends and relatives in Dvârakâ I can say that they were cursed by the brahmins as a consequence of which they, being drunk with rice wine, like fools killed one another with sticks, not even recognizing each other in that intoxicated state. Only four or five of them remained.

O King, since you have asked me about our friends and relatives in the city of Dvârakâ, I will inform you that all of them were cursed by the brâhmanas, and as a result they all became intoxicated with wine made of putrefied rice and fought among themselves with sticks, not even recognizing one another. Now all but four or five of them are dead and gone. (Vedabase)

Text 24

It is the Supreme Personality, our Lord, His program that sometimes the living beings kill and at other times protect each other.

Factually this is all due to the supreme will of the Lord, the Personality of Godhead. Sometimes people kill one another, and at other times they protect one another. (Vedabase)

Text 25-26:

Like in the ocean where the bigger ones eat the smaller and the stronger ones devour the weaker, o King, took the same way the Omnipotent One the burden of all the Yadus in one stroke away from the earth, by having the stronger Yadu kill the weaker one and the bigger Yadu kill the smaller one in a fight.

O King, as in the ocean the bigger and stronger aquatics swallow up the smaller and weaker ones, so also the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to lighten the burden of the earth, has engaged the stronger Yadu to kill the weaker, and the bigger Yadu to kill the smaller. (Vedabase)

Text 27

Bearing in mind the words spoken by Govinda, I remember how attractive they are, and how they, imbued with importance and appropriate to the time and circumstance, put an end to the pain in the heart.

Now I am attracted to those instructions imparted to me by the Personality of Godhead [Govinda] because they are impregnated with instructions for relieving the burning heart in all circumstances of time and space. (Vedabase)

Text 28

Sûta said: "Thus thinking of the lotus feet of the Lord and what He had instructed in the intimacy of deep friendship, found Arjuna his calm with his mind freed from all material concerns.

Sûta Gosvâmî said: Thus being deeply absorbed in thinking of the instructions of the Lord, which were imparted in the great intimacy of friendship, and in thinking of His lotus feet, Arjuna's mind became pacified and free from all material contamination. (Vedabase)

Text 29

Constantly remembering the feet of Vâsudeva, increased Arjuna's devotion rapidly and ended the endless ruminations.

Arjuna's constant remembrance of the lotus feet of Lord S'rî Krishna rapidly increased his devotion, and as a result all the trash in his thoughts subsided. (Vedabase)

Text 30

Recalling the instructions of the Supreme Lord about the transcendental in the midst of the battle and thinking of His time and actions he dispelled the darkness of his ignorance and became master of his senses.

Because of the Lord's pastimes and activities and because of His absence, it appeared that Arjuna forgot the instructions left by the Personality of Godhead. But factually this was not the case, and again he became lord of his senses. (Vedabase)

Text 31

Free from lamentation, by his spiritual capacity managing to cut with the doubts raised by the duality of being identified with the material world, was he, due to the transcendence being without the material form, freed from the entanglement of birth and death.

Because of his possessing spiritual assets, the doubts of duality were completely cut off. Thus he was freed from the three modes of material nature and placed in transcendence. There was no longer any chance of his becoming entangled in birth and death, for he was freed from material form. (Vedabase)

Text 32

Listening to the deliberations about the disappearance of the Supreme Lord to His abode and the end of the Yadu dynasty, Yudhishthhira decided to withdraw himself and also leave for the sake of the soul.

Upon hearing of Lord Krishna's returning to His abode, and upon understanding the end of the Yadu dynasty's earthly manifestation, Mahârâja Yudhishthhira decided to go back home, back to Godhead. (Vedabase)

Text 33

Also Queen Kuntî, who had overheard what Arjuna told about the end of the Yadus and the disappearance of the Lord, found, as well as all the others did who were undivided in their devotion for the Lord's transcendence, in her soulful commitment release from her material existence.

Kuntî, after overhearing Arjuna's telling of the end of the Yadu dynasty and disappearance of Lord Krishna, engaged in the devotional service of the transcendental Personality of Godhead with full attention and thus gained release from the course of material existence. (Vedabase)

Text 34

By taking away the burden of the world was that body [of the Yadu dynasty] relinquished by the Unborn One the way a thorn is thrown away when it is used to extract another thorn, because those thorns to the Lord are one and the same.

The supreme unborn, Lord S'rî Krishna, caused the members of the Yadu dynasty to relinquish their bodies, and thus He relieved the burden of the world. This action was like picking out a thorn with a thorn, though both are the same to the controller. (Vedabase)

Text 35:

Like in His Matsya-incarnation e.g., as a magician giving up one body to accept another one, relinquished He the body He manifested to diminish the burden of the world.

The Supreme Lord relinquished the body which He manifested to diminish the burden of the earth. Just like a magician, He relinquishes one body to accept different ones, like the fish incarnation and others. (Vedabase)

Text 36:

When Mukunda [the Lord of Liberation] the Fortunate One so worthwhile to hear about, left this earth - manifested from that very day on Kali[-yuga] itself in full, inauspicious to all whose minds have not awakened.

When the Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, left this earthly planet in His selfsame form, from that very day Kali, who had already partially appeared, became fully manifest to create inauspicious conditions for those who are endowed with a poor fund of knowledge. (Vedabase)

Text 37:

Yudhishthhira keenly in his capital, state and home as also in the self seeing things grow worse with the vicious circle of avarice, falsehood, dishonesty, irreligion and violence and such, understood that it was time to leave and dressed himself accordingly.

Mahârâja Yudhishthhira was intelligent enough to understand the influence of the age of Kali, characterized by increasing avarice, falsehood, cheating and violence throughout the capital, state, home and among individuals. So he wisely prepared himself to leave home, and he dressed accordingly. (Vedabase)

Text 38:

His grandson [Parîkchit], who was properly trained and equal to himself in all respects by his qualities, was by the emperor to that in the capital of Hastinâpura enthroned as the master of all land bordered by the seas.

Thereafter, in the capital of Hastinâpura, he enthroned his grandson, who was trained and equally qualified, as the emperor and master of all land bordered by the seas. (Vedabase)

Text 39:

At Mathurâ he made Vajra [the son of Aniruddha] king of S'ûrasena, after which he had a prâjâpatya sacrifice performed for being able to find the fire in himself to attain his goal.

Then he posted Vajra, the son of Aniruddha [grandson of Lord Krishna], at Mathurâ as the King of S'ûrasena. Afterwards Mahârâja Yudhishthhira performed a Prâjâpatya sacrifice and placed in himself the fire for quitting household life. (Vedabase)

Text 40:

Renouncing his belt, ornaments and all of that, he became uninterested perfectly being detached from the unlimited bondage.

Mahârâja Yudhishthhira at once relinquished all his garments, belt and ornaments of the royal order and became completely disinterested and unattached to everything. (Vedabase)

Text 41:

He withdrew his speech into his mind, his mind with his other senses into his breath, his breath he withdrew in death, and in full dedication he united that with the body made of the five elements.

Then he amalgamated all the sense organs into the mind, then the mind into life, life into breathing, his total existence into the embodiment of the five elements, and his body into death. Then, as pure self, he became free from the material conception of life. (Vedabase)

Text 42:

Having offered those five elements to the three qualities of nature, he united the thoughtfulness in one indifference, fixing the sumtotal of that in the soul directed to the spiritual soul of the inexhaustible Brahman.

Thus annihilating the gross body of five elements into the three qualitative modes of material nature, he merged them in one nescience and then absorbed that nescience in the self, Brahman, which is inexhaustible in all circumstances. (Vedabase)

Text 43:

Accepting torn clothes, refusing solid food, stopping to talk and untying his hair, he began to look like a dumb madman and an unengaged urchin not listening to anyone as if he had become deaf.

After that, Mahârâja Yudhishthhira dressed himself in torn clothing, gave up eating all solid foods, voluntarily became dumb and let his hair hang loose. All this combined to make him look like an urchin or madman with no occupation. He did not depend on his brothers for anything. And, just like a deaf man, he heard nothing. (Vedabase)

Text 44:

Heading for the north he trod, as all others going there, the path of his mindful forefathers, passing his days constantly thinking from within his heart of the Supreme Beyond wherever he went.

He then started towards the north, treading the path accepted by his forefathers and great men, to devote himself completely to the thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And he lived in that way wherever he went. (Vedabase)

Text 45:

In accord with their friend seeing that the Age of Kali and its irreligion had overtaken the citizens on earth, followed all the brothers the eldest one and left they from home.

The younger brothers of Mahârâja Yudhishthhira observed that the age of Kali had already arrived throughout the world and that the citizens of the kingdom were already affected by irreligious practice. Therefore they decided to follow in the footsteps of their elder brother. (Vedabase)

Text 46:

They all, having performed with all the virtue and knowledge of holiness, kept themselves, with the ultimate goal of the living being in mind, steadfast to the lotus feet of the Lord of Vaikunthha.

They all had performed all the principles of religion and as a result rightly decided that the lotus feet of the Lord S'rî Krishna are the supreme goal of all. Therefore they meditated upon His feet without interruption. (Vedabase)

Text 47-48:

That is the destination of those who by positive meditation purified in devotion found liberation in fixing their mind on the transcendental feet of the One Nârâyana. They attained, with their material contaminations washed off, in the same bodies as they were born with the abode which for the materialists absorbed in material concerns is so very difficult to attain.

Thus by pure consciousness due to constant devotional remembrance, they attained the spiritual sky, which is ruled over by the Supreme Nârâyana, Lord Krishna. This is attained only by those who meditate upon the one Supreme Lord without deviation. This abode of the Lord S'rî Krsna, known as Goloka Vrindâvana, cannot be attained by persons who are absorbed in the material conception of life. But the Pândavas, being completely washed of all material contamination, attained that abode in their very same bodies. (Vedabase)

Text 49:

Also Vidura who with his mind and actions was devoted to Krishna, returned after quitting his physical self at Prabhâsa in the company of his forefathers to his own abode [Yama's realm].

Vidura, while on pilgrimage, left his body at Prabhâsa. Because he was absorbed in thought of Lord Krishna, he was received by the denizens of Pitriloka planet, where he returned to his original post. (Vedabase)

Text 50:

Draupadî also, who then had to miss the care of her husbands, concentrated, one-pointed in the full knowledge of Him, herself on Lord Vâsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and reached Him thus.

Draupadî also saw that her husbands, without caring for her, were leaving home. She knew well about Lord Vâsudeva, Krishna, the Personality of Godhead. Both she and Subhadrâ became absorbed in thoughts of Krishna and attained the same results as their husbands. (Vedabase)

Text 51:

Anyone who hears with devotion of this departure for the ultimate goal of the sons of Pându so dear to the Supreme Lord, will find nothing but good fortune and purity and will gaining in perfection thus arrive at devotion for the Lord.

The subject of the departure of the sons of Pându for the ultimate goal of life, back to Godhead, is fully auspicious and is perfectly pure. Therefore anyone who hears this narration with devotional faith certainly gains the devotional service of the Lord, the highest perfection of life. (Vedabase)