Canto 3: The Status Quo
SB3.1

Canto 3 · Chapter 1 · 45 verses · 1 story

Questions by Vidura

Vidura leaves home, travels to holy places, and asks Uddhava about Kṛṣṇa’s associates and his relatives.

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Themes of SB 3.1Viraha5Prema4Sakhya4Kīrtana3from its story phase
Connected storiesDhṛtarāṣṭra leaves homeBhīṣmadevaAkrūraKaṁsa
Who is speakingSūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitEvery voice in this chapter ›
Turning points hereVidura· The exile and journey

What this chapter speaks about · the ten subjects

In this chapter

Who · Vidura, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Duryodhana, Uddhava

The story · When Dhṛtarāṣṭra invited Vidura to advise him, Vidura gave instructions that were exactly to the point. Duryodhana insulted him, and Vidura later lamented that Dhṛtarāṣṭra had driven away his sincere well-wisher by following his sons. Having left his prosperous home, Vidura traveled through holy places, performing duties simply to please the Supreme Lord Hari. He asked Uddhava about Kṛṣṇa’s associates and his relatives.

What it teaches · Vidura’s travels show a life directed toward pleasing the Lord rather than preserving household comfort. Holy places and temples reminded him of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa.

SB 3.1.10SB 3.1.19SB 3.1.41Read chapter 1 ›

Beyond this chapter

Connected stories across the Bhāgavatam

Stories told in other chapters that this chapter's verses or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purports bring in, the other Bhāgavatam verses the purports quote, and stories in other cantos with the same themes. Each link shows the sentence it comes from.

Dhṛtarāṣṭra leaves home

SB 1.13 · Dhṛtarāṣṭra leaves home

What it teaches · No one in the material world can prevent the approach of time and the decline of the body. Understanding this calls one away from bodily attachment toward spiritual realization.

King Dhṛtarāṣṭra became blind under the influence of impious desires to nourish his dishonest sons, and thus he set fire to the lacquer house to burn his fatherless nephews, the Pāṇḍavas.

Dhṛtarāṣṭra was blind from birth, but his blindness in committing impious activities to support his dishonest sons was a greater blindness than his physical lack of eyesight.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.1.6 (Text 6)
Read the story in SB 1.13

Bhīṣmadeva

SB 1.9 · Bhīṣmadeva’s final attention

What it teaches · Even great thinkers cannot fully understand the Lord’s plan. Bhīṣmadeva’s final prayers show the goal of fixing the mind upon Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Lord Kṛṣṇa was sent by Arjuna into the assembly as the spiritual master of the whole world, and although His words were heard by some [like Bhīṣma] as pure nectar, it was not so for the others, who were completely bereft of the last farthing of past pious works.

He reached the assembly and spoke about peace, and the message was relished by Bhīṣma and other great leaders because it was spoken by the Lord Himself.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.1.9 (Text 9)
Read the story in SB 1.9

Akrūra

SB 10.38–40 · Akrūra’s journey and visionSB 10.48–49 · Akrūra’s mission to the Pāṇḍavas

What it teaches · Kṛṣṇa is kindly disposed toward His surrendered devotees. Akrūra’s prayers teach that the Lord’s appearances remove the unhappiness of those who joyfully chant His glories.

Please tell me whether Akrūra, the son of Śvaphalka, is doing well.

When Akrūra came to Vṛndāvana in search of Kṛṣṇa, he saw the footprints of the Lord on the dust of Nanda-grāma and at once fell on them in ecstasy of transcendental love.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.1.32 (Text 32)
Read the story in SB 10.38–40

Kaṁsa

SB 10.1–4 · Kṛṣṇa’s appearanceSB 10.41–44 · Mathurā and the fall of Kaṁsa

What it teaches · Kṛṣṇa appears by His own spiritual energy, not as an ordinary conditioned soul. His name, form, and attributes are understood through devotional service.

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.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.1.24 (Text 24)

Persons who are sinful asuras like Kaṁsa and Jarāsandha cannot think of Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.1.17 (Text 17)
Read the story in SB 10.1–4

Queen Kuntī

SB 1.8 · Kuntī’s prayer for undivided devotion

What it teaches · Kuntī’s prayer expresses dependence on Kṛṣṇa and the desire for uninterrupted devotion. The Lord remains unborn and transcendental even while protecting His devotees within this world.

But although they were stepbrothers, because Kuntī took charge of them after the departure of Mādrī with her husband Mahārāja Pāṇḍu, Nakula and Sahadeva were as good as the other three Pāṇḍavas, namely Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma and Arjuna.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.1.39 (Text 39)

When Mahārāja Pāṇḍu died, both his wives, namely Kuntī and Mādrī, were prepared to embrace the fire, but Mādrī requested Kuntī to live for the sake of the younger children, the five Pāṇḍavas.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.1.40 (Text 40)
Read the story in SB 1.8

Jarāsandha and the Rājasūya

SB 10.71–75 · Jarāsandha’s defeat and the RājasūyaSB 10.50–51 · Dvārakā and Mucukunda’s prayer

What it teaches · The liberated kings recognize the danger of pride in temporary power. Kṛṣṇa directs them to worship Him, protect their subjects, and remain steady in happiness and distress.

Persons who are sinful asuras like Kaṁsa and Jarāsandha cannot think of Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.1.17 (Text 17)

Vidura wanted to impress upon his elder brother that fighting with the Pāṇḍavas was fraught with many dangers because they were supported by Lord Kṛṣṇa, who had conquered, even in His childhood, demons like Kaṁsa and Jarāsandha and demigods like Brahmā and Indra.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.1.12 (Text 12)
Read the story in SB 10.71–75

Other Bhāgavatam verses Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes here

Same themes in another canto

Both chapters carry these themes strongly in the themes map, an editorial reading of each chapter's story.

  1. Learn
  2. Live
  3. Lead
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