Shloka 12
Uddhava’s Departure to Badarikāśrama and Vidura’s Turn Toward Maitreya
स एष साधो चरमो भवाना- मासादितस्ते मदनुग्रहो यत् । यन्मां नृलोकान् रह उत्सृजन्तं दिष्टया ददृश्वान् विशदानुवृत्त्या ॥ १२ ॥
sa eṣa sādho caramo bhavānām āsāditas te mad-anugraho yat yan māṁ nṛlokān raha utsṛjantaṁ diṣṭyā dadṛśvān viśadānuvṛttyā
O saintly one, your present life is the last and the most exalted, for in this very birth you have received My ultimate mercy. Now you may leave this world of conditioned beings and go to My transcendental abode, Vaikuṇṭha. That you have seen Me in this solitary place, by your pure and unwavering bhakti, is a great blessing for you.
When a person is fully conversant with knowledge of the Lord as far as can be known by a perfect living entity in the liberated state, he is allowed to enter into the spiritual sky, where the Vaikuṇṭha planets exist. The Lord was sitting in a lonely place just about to disappear from the vision of the inhabitants of this universe, and Uddhava was fortunate to see Him even at that time and thus receive the Lord’s permission to enter Vaikuṇṭha. The Lord is everywhere at all times, and His appearance and disappearance are merely the experience of the inhabitants of a particular universe. He is just like the sun. The sun does not appear or disappear in the sky; it is only in the experience of men that in the morning the sun rises and in the evening the sun sets. The Lord is simultaneously both in Vaikuṇṭha and everywhere within and without Vaikuṇṭha.
FAQs
This verse highlights purity and steadiness in devotion (viśadānuvṛttyā) and the rare fortune of receiving Krishna’s direct mercy.
Krishna acknowledges Vidura as exceptionally blessed because Vidura, with sincere devotion, was able to see Him personally as He was departing human society privately.
Cultivate steady, sincere bhakti—consistent remembrance, service, and integrity—trusting that spiritual progress depends more on purity of intent than external display.