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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.1.24
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A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 24
- tatas tv ativrajya surāṣṭram ṛddhaṁ
- sauvīra-matsyān kurujāṅgalāṁś ca
- kālena tāvad yamunām upetya
- tatroddhavaṁ bhāgavataṁ dadarśa
tataḥfrom there — from there; tubut — but; ativrajyaby passing over — by passing over; surāṣṭramthe kingdom of Surat — the kingdom of Surat; ṛddhamvery wealthy — very wealthy; sauvīrathe kingdom of Sauvīra — the kingdom of Sauvīra; matsyānthe kingdom of Matsya — the kingdom of Matsya; kurujāṅgalānthe kingdom of western India up to the Delhi province — the kingdom of western India up to the Delhi province; caalso — also; kālenain course of time — in course of time; tāvatas soon as — as soon as; yamunāmbank of the River Yamunā — bank of the River Yamunā; upetyareaching — reaching; tatrathere — there; uddhavamUddhava, one of the prominent Yadus — Uddhava, one of the prominent Yadus; bhāgavatamthe great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa — the great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa; dadarśahappened to see — happened to see.
Thereafter he passed through very wealthy provinces like Surat, Sauvīra and Matsya and through western India, known as Kurujāṅgala. At last he reached the bank of the Yamunā, where he happened to meet Uddhava, the great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
The tract of land comprising about one hundred square miles from modern Delhi to the Mathurā district in Uttar Pradesh, including a portion of the Gurgaon district in Punjab (East India), is considered to be the topmost place of pilgrimage in all of India. This land is sacred because Lord Kṛṣṇa traveled through it many times. From the very beginning of His appearance, He was at Mathurā in the house of His maternal uncle Kaṁsa, and He was reared by His foster father Mahārāja Nanda at Vṛndāvana. There are still many devotees of the Lord lingering there in ecstasy in search of Kṛṣṇa and His childhood associates, the gopīs. It is not that such devotees meet Kṛṣṇa face to face in that tract of land, but a devotee's eagerly searching after Kṛṣṇa is as good as his seeing Him personally. How this is so cannot be explained, but it is factually realized by those who are pure devotees of the Lord. Philosophically, one can understand that Lord Kṛṣṇa and His remembrance are on the absolute plane and that the very idea of searching for Him at Vṛndāvana in pure God consciousness gives more pleasure to the devotee than seeing Him face to face. Such devotees of the Lord see Him face to face at every moment, as confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā (BS 5.38):
- premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
- santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti
- yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ
- govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
"Those who are in ecstasy of love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śyāmasundara [Kṛṣṇa], see Him always in their hearts due to love and devotional service rendered to the Lord." Both Vidura and Uddhava were such elevated devotees, and therefore they both came to the bank of the Yamunā and met each other.