Text 23
śrī-śuka uvāca
ity uddhavād upākarṇya
suhṛdāṁ duḥsahaṁ vadham
jñānenāśamayat kṣattā
śokam utpatitaṁ budhaḥ
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śuka Gosvāmī said; iti — thus; uddhavāt — from Uddhava; upākarṇya — hearing; suhṛdām — of friends and relatives; duḥsaham — unbearable; vadham — annihilation; jñānena — by transcendental knowledge; aśamayat — pacified himself; kṣattā — Vidura; śokam — bereavement; utpatitam — arisen; budhaḥ — the learned.
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: After hearing from Uddhava all about the annihilation of his friends and relatives, the learned Vidura pacified his overwhelming bereavement by dint of his transcendental knowledge.
Vidura was informed that the result of the Battle of Kurukṣetra was the annihilation of his friends and relatives as well as the destruction of the Yadu dynasty and also the passing away of the Lord. All these hurled him into bereavement for the time being, but because he was highly advanced in transcendental knowledge, he was quite competent to pacify himself by enlightenment. As it is stated in Bhagavad-gītā, due to our long association with bodily relationships, bereavement on account of the annihilation of friends and relatives is not at all astonishing, but one has to learn the art of subduing such bereavement with higher, transcendental knowledge. The talks between Uddhava and Vidura on the topic of Kṛṣṇa began at sunset, and Vidura was now further advanced in knowledge due to his association with Uddhava.