Chapter 13 · Class prep
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BG 13.1
Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī said: While traveling on a pilgrimage, Vidura received knowledge of the destination of the self from the great sage Maitreya and then returned to Hastināpura. He became as well versed in the subject as he desired.
Essence. Vidura, on pilgrimage, received knowledge of the soul's destination from Maitreya, then returned to Hastināpura. Wisdom must come home. Pilgrimage isn't escape; it's preparation.
BG 13.2
After asking various questions and becoming established in the transcendental loving service of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Vidura retired from putting questions to Maitreya Muni.
Essence. After asking various questions and becoming established in the Lord's loving service, Vidura retired from putting further questions. Eventually, questioning gives way to doing. There is a season for each.
BG 13.3-4
When they saw Vidura return to the palace, all the inhabitants — Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, his younger brothers, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Sātyaki, Sañjaya, Kṛpācārya, Kuntī, Gāndhārī, Draupadī, Subhadrā, Uttarā, Kṛpī, many other wives of the Kauravas, and other ladies with children — all hurried to him in great delight. It so appeared that they had regained their consciousness after a long period.
Essence. When Vidura returned, everyone — Yudhiṣṭhira, brothers, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Gāndhārī, Draupadī, even all the wives — came out as if life had returned to them. A good person's homecoming reanimates a household.
BG 13.5
With great delight they all approached him, as if life had returned to their bodies. They exchanged obeisances and welcomed each other with embraces.
Essence. With great delight all approached him, as if life had returned. They exchanged obeisances and welcomed each other with embraces. Reunion deserves bow and embrace both. Honor and warmth together.
BG 13.6
Due to anxieties and long separation, they all cried out of affection. King Yudhiṣṭhira then arranged to offer sitting accommodations and a reception.
Essence. Due to anxieties and long separation, all cried out of affection. King Yudhiṣṭhira arranged seating and reception. Tears are met with hospitality. Practical care follows emotion.
BG 13.7
After Vidura ate sumptuously and took sufficient rest, he was comfortably seated. Then the King began to speak to him, and all who were present there listened.
Essence. After eating and resting, Vidura was comfortably seated; then the King began to speak. Real conversation waits for the body to be cared for. Bodies first, then deep questions.
BG 13.8
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira said: My uncle, do you remember how you always protected us, along with our mother, from all sorts of calamities? Your partiality, like the wings of a bird, saved us from poisoning and arson.
Essence. Yudhiṣṭhira: do you remember how you protected us, like wings of a bird, from poisoning and arson? Naming past care is itself a form of love. Memory honors the protector.
BG 13.9
While traveling on the surface of the earth, how did you maintain your livelihood? At which holy places and pilgrimage sites did you render service?
Essence. How did you maintain your livelihood traveling? At which holy places did you serve? Curiosity about the texture of a sage's life is appropriate. Not just the doctrine — the daily.
BG 13.10
My lord, devotees like your good self are verily holy places personified. Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage.
Essence. Devotees like you are holy places personified — you carry the Lord in your heart and turn every place into pilgrimage. Holiness is portable when it lives in the heart.
BG 13.11
My uncle, you must have visited Dvārakā. In that holy place are our friends and well-wishers, the descendants of Yadu, who are always rapt in the service of the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. You might have seen them or heard about them. Are they all living happily in their abodes?
Essence. Uncle, have you visited Dvārakā? Have you seen our friends in the Yadu line, always rapt in serving Kṛṣṇa? Are they all well? Genuine concern for distant loved ones is dharma.
BG 13.12
Thus being questioned by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, Mahātmā Vidura gradually described everything he had personally experienced, except news of the annihilation of the Yadu dynasty.
Essence. Mahātmā Vidura described all he had experienced — except the news of the Yadu dynasty's annihilation. Mature compassion withholds news that cannot yet be received. Timing of truth matters.
BG 13.13
Compassionate Mahātmā Vidura could not stand to see the Pāṇḍavas distressed at any time. Therefore he did not disclose this unpalatable and unbearable incident because calamities come of their own accord.
Essence. Compassionate, he could not bear to see the Pāṇḍavas distressed. So he didn't disclose the unpalatable — calamities come of their own accord. Some news arrives without our help. Don't be the messenger when grief is already on its way.
BG 13.14
Thus Mahātmā Vidura, being treated just like a godly person by his kinsmen, remained there for a certain period just to rectify the mentality of his eldest brother and in this way bring happiness to all the others.
Essence. Vidura remained for a while, treated as a godly person, just to rectify his elder brother's mentality and bring happiness to all. The wise stay strategically to shift one soul.
BG 13.15
As long as Vidura played the part of a śūdra, being cursed by Maṇḍūka Muni, Aryamā officiated at the post of Yamarāja to punish those who committed sinful acts.
Essence. While Vidura played the part of a śūdra under Maṇḍūka Muni's curse, Aryamā officiated as Yamarāja. Cosmic posts are filled even when an officer is incognito. Roles continue under different bodies.
BG 13.16
Having won his kingdom and observed the birth of one grandson competent to continue the noble tradition of his family, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira reigned peacefully and enjoyed uncommon opulence in cooperation with his younger brothers, who were all expert administrators to the common people.
Essence. Having won his kingdom and seen a worthy grandson born, Yudhiṣṭhira reigned peacefully and enjoyed uncommon opulence with his brothers. Achievement and family integration can coexist. Peace can follow turmoil.
BG 13.17
Insurmountable eternal time imperceptibly overcomes those who are too much attached to family affairs and are always engrossed in their thought.
Essence. Insurmountable eternal time imperceptibly overcomes those too attached to family affairs and always engrossed in thought of them. Time waits for no attachment. Engrossment is no defense.
BG 13.18
Mahātmā Vidura knew all this, and therefore he addressed Dhṛtarāṣṭra, saying: My dear King, please get out of here immediately. Do not delay. Just see how fear has overtaken you.
Essence. Vidura addressed Dhṛtarāṣṭra: get out of here immediately. Don't delay. See how fear has overtaken you. True friendship sometimes speaks bluntly to those who refuse to see.
BG 13.19
This frightful situation cannot be remedied by any person in this material world. My lord, it is the Supreme Personality of Godhead as eternal time [kāla] that has approached us all.
Essence. This frightful situation cannot be remedied by anyone in this material world. It is the Supreme Lord as eternal time who has approached us all. Some realities are time itself, and time bows to no remedy.
BG 13.20
Whoever is under the influence of supreme kāla [eternal time] must surrender his most dear life, and what to speak of other things, such as wealth, honor, children, land and home.
Essence. Whoever is under supreme kāla must surrender his most dear life — and what of other things like wealth, honor, children, land, home? Time eventually takes everything dear. Surrender now, willingly.
BG 13.21
Your father, brother, well-wishers and sons are all dead and passed away. You yourself have expended the major portion of your life, your body is now overtaken by invalidity, and you are living in the home of another.
Essence. Your father, brother, well-wishers, sons — all dead. You have spent the major part of your life, your body is invalid, you are living in another's home. The naming of facts breaks denial. Truth is the first medicine.
BG 13.22
You have been blind from your very birth, and recently you have become hard of hearing. Your memory is shortened, and your intelligence is disturbed. Your teeth are loose, your liver is defective, and you are coughing up mucus.
Essence. Blind from birth, recently hard of hearing, memory shortened, teeth loose, liver defective, coughing up mucus — the body is failing. Old age is a non-negotiable instructor.
BG 13.23
Alas, how powerful are the hopes of a living being to continue his life. Verily, you are living just like a household dog and are eating remnants of food given by Bhīma.
Essence. How powerful are hopes — you are living like a household dog, eating Bhīma's remnants. Don't sentimentalize: the diagnosis is sharp. False hope can be the cruelest captor.
BG 13.24
There is no need to live a degraded life and subsist on the charity of those whom you tried to kill by arson and poisoning. You also insulted their married wife and usurped their kingdom and wealth.
Essence. No need to live a degraded life on the charity of those you tried to kill by arson and poison and whose wife you insulted. Owed favor doesn't justify continued degradation. Past wrongs make present comforts heavier.
BG 13.25
Despite your unwillingness to die and your desire to live even at the cost of honor and prestige, your miserly body will certainly dwindle and deteriorate like an old garment.
Essence. Despite your unwillingness to die, your miserly body will dwindle and deteriorate like an old garment. The body is a garment, not the self. Cling to it and it still slips away.
BG 13.26
He is called undisturbed who goes to an unknown, remote place and, freed from all obligations, quits his material body when it has become useless.
Essence. He is called undisturbed who goes to an unknown, remote place and, freed from all obligations, quits his material body when it has become useless. Voluntary departure beats forced extraction.
BG 13.27
He is certainly a first-class man who awakens and understands, either by himself or from others, the falsity and misery of this material world and thus leaves home and depends fully on the Personality of Godhead residing within his heart.
Essence. He is first-class who awakens to the falsity and misery of this world, leaves home, and depends fully on the Personality of Godhead within his heart. Inner-Lord refuge is the model.
BG 13.28
Please, therefore, leave for the North immediately, without letting your relatives know, for soon that time will approach which will diminish the good qualities of men.
Essence. Therefore leave for the North immediately, without letting your relatives know — soon the qualities of men will diminish. Quiet departures avoid drama. Some things must be left without announcement.
BG 13.29
Thus Mahārāja Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the scion of the family of Ajamīḍha, firmly convinced by introspective knowledge [prajñā], broke at once the strong network of familial affection by his resolute determination. Thus he immediately left home to set out on the path of liberation, as directed by his younger brother Vidura.
Essence. Dhṛtarāṣṭra, firmly convinced by introspective knowledge, broke the strong network of familial affection by resolute determination. The mind once truly convinced acts. Conviction is the engine of severance.
BG 13.30
The gentle and chaste Gāndhārī, who was the daughter of King Subala of Kandahar [or Gāndhāra], followed her husband, seeing that he was going to the Himālaya Mountains, which are the delight of those who have accepted the staff of the renounced order like fighters who have accepted a good lashing from the enemy.
Essence. Gandhārī, daughter of Subala, followed her husband to the Himalayas — the delight of those who have accepted the staff of renunciation. Companions of renouncers are themselves renounced.
BG 13.31
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, whose enemy was never born, performed his daily morning duties by praying, offering fire sacrifice to the sun-god, and offering obeisances, grains, cows, land and gold to the brāhmaṇas. He then entered the palace to pay respects to the elderly. However, he could not find his uncles or aunt, the daughter of King Subala.
Essence. Yudhiṣṭhira performed his daily morning duties — prayer, fire sacrifice, obeisances, grains, cows, land, gold to brāhmaṇas — then entered the palace. Discipline of morning practice grounds the whole day.
BG 13.32
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, full of anxiety, turned to Sañjaya, who was sitting there, and said: O Sañjaya, where is our uncle, who is old and blind?
Essence. Anxious, he asked Saṅjaya: where is our blind old uncle? Concern after the fact is honest, even if late. Asking 'where is he?' is itself a form of love.
BG 13.33
Where is my well-wisher, uncle Vidura, and mother Gāndhārī, who is very afflicted due to all her sons’ demise? My uncle Dhṛtarāṣṭra was also very mortified due to the death of all his sons and grandsons. Undoubtedly I am very ungrateful. Did he, therefore, take my offenses very seriously and, along with his wife, drown himself in the Ganges?
Essence. Where is uncle Vidura? Where is mother Gāndhārī, afflicted by all her sons' deaths? Undoubtedly I am ungrateful. The recognition of ingratitude is its own beginning. Naming our lapses opens repair.
BG 13.34
When my father, Pāṇḍu, fell down and we were all small children, these two uncles gave us protection from all kinds of calamities. They were always our good well-wishers. Alas, where have they gone from here?
Essence. When my father fell and we were small children, these two uncles protected us from calamities. They were always good well-wishers. Where have they gone? Naming inherited care is its own duty.
BG 13.35
Sūta Gosvāmī said: Because of compassion and mental agitation, Sañjaya, not having seen his own master, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, was aggrieved and could not properly reply to Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira.
Essence. Saṅjaya, not having seen his master, was aggrieved and could not properly reply. When the heart breaks, articulate response is hard. Grief slows speech.
BG 13.36
First he slowly pacified his mind by intelligence, and wiping away his tears and thinking of the feet of his master, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, he began to reply to Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira.
Essence. First he slowly pacified his mind, wiped tears, thought of his master's feet, then began to reply. Grief requires staged response. Don't speak from the rawest moment.
BG 13.37
Sañjaya said: My dear descendant of the Kuru dynasty, I have no information of the determination of your two uncles and Gāndhārī. O King, I have been cheated by those great souls.
Essence. Saṅjaya: I have no information about your uncles and Gāndhārī. I have been cheated by those great souls. Honest helplessness is sometimes the truest answer.
BG 13.38
While Sañjaya was thus speaking, Śrī Nārada, the powerful devotee of the Lord, appeared on the scene carrying his tumburu. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and his brothers received him properly by getting up from their seats and offering obeisances.
Essence. While Saṅjaya was speaking, Śrī Nārada appeared carrying his tumburu. The right teacher arrives when the moment requires. Grace shows up to ungate the conversation.
BG 13.39
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira said: O godly personality, I do not know where my two uncles have gone. Nor can I find my ascetic aunt who is griefstricken by the loss of all her sons.
Essence. Yudhiṣṭhira: O godly personality, I do not know where my uncles have gone, nor can I find my ascetic aunt. The honest leader asks the wise after his own family. No king is above seeking help.
BG 13.40
You are like a captain of a ship in a great ocean and you can direct us to our destination. Thus addressed, the godly personality, Devarṣi Nārada, greatest of the philosopher devotees, began to speak.
Essence. You are like a ship's captain in a great ocean and can direct us to our destination. The right metaphor empowers the helper. Naming someone's gift draws it out.
BG 13.41
Śrī Nārada said: O pious King, do not lament for anyone, for everyone is under the control of the Supreme Lord. Therefore all living beings and their leaders carry on worship to be well protected. It is He only who brings them together and disperses them.
Essence. Nārada: do not lament for anyone — everyone is under the Supreme Lord's control. He brings them together and disperses them. Lamentation assumes more authorship than we have.
BG 13.42
As a cow, bound through the nose by a long rope, is conditioned, so also human beings are bound by different Vedic injunctions and are conditioned to obey the orders of the Supreme.
Essence. As a cow bound through the nose by a long rope is conditioned, so are humans bound by Vedic injunctions to obey the Supreme. Conditioning is real; the Lord uses it as a leash for our good.
BG 13.43
As a player sets up and disperses his playthings according to his own sweet will, so the supreme will of the Lord brings men together and separates them.
Essence. As a player sets up and disperses his playthings by his own will, so the Lord brings men together and separates them. Relationships are arrangements, not possessions.
BG 13.44
O King, in all circumstances, whether you consider the soul to be an eternal principle, or the material body to be perishable, or everything to exist in the impersonal Absolute Truth, or everything to be an inexplicable combination of matter and spirit, feelings of separation are due only to illusory affection and nothing more.
Essence. Whether you consider the soul eternal, the body perishable, all impersonal, or matter-spirit combined — under all views, sympathy due to affection is only because of illusion. Philosophy doesn't resolve grief; surrender does.
BG 13.45
Therefore give up your anxiety due to ignorance of the self. You are now thinking of how they, who are helpless poor creatures, will exist without you.
Essence. Give up your anxiety due to ignorance of self. You are thinking how they, helpless poor creatures, will exist without you. Your protection-anxiety presumes more than is true.
BG 13.46
This gross material body made of five elements is already under the control of eternal time [kāla], action [karma] and the modes of material nature [guṇa]. How then can it, being already in the jaws of the serpent, protect others?
Essence. This body, made of five elements, is under control of time, action, and modes. Being already in the jaws of the serpent, how can it protect others? The would-be protector is himself in danger.
BG 13.47
Those who are devoid of hands are prey for those who have hands; those devoid of legs are prey for the four-legged. The weak are the subsistence of the strong, and the general rule holds that one living being is food for another.
Essence. Those without hands are prey to those with hands; those without legs to the four-legged. Weak feeds the strong. One being is food for another. This is the material order — not an exception.
BG 13.48
Therefore, O King, you should look to the Supreme Lord only, who is one without a second and who manifests Himself by different energies and is both within and without.
Essence. Therefore look to the Supreme Lord only, one without a second, who manifests by different energies, both within and without. Refuge in the One who is not preyed upon. The Lord is the only stable shelter.
BG 13.49
That Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, in the guise of all-devouring time [kāla-rūpa] has now descended to the earth to eliminate the envious from the world.
Essence. Kṛṣṇa, in the guise of all-devouring time, has descended to eliminate the envious from the world. The Lord's mercy includes terminations. He prunes for the garden.
BG 13.50
The Lord has already performed His duties to help the demigods, and He is awaiting the rest. You Pāṇḍavas may wait as long as the Lord is here on earth.
Essence. He has performed His duties to help the demigods and is awaiting the rest. You Pāṇḍavas may wait as long as the Lord is here on earth. Live the rest of His time as your time.
BG 13.51
O King, your uncle Dhṛtarāṣṭra, his brother Vidura and his wife Gāndhārī have gone to the southern side of the Himālaya Mountains, where there are shelters of the great sages.
Essence. Your uncle Dhṛtarāṣṭra, brother Vidura, and Gāndhārī have gone to the southern Himalayas, to the shelters of the great sages. Wise old people seek wise old places. Geography of refuge matters.
BG 13.52
The place is called Saptasrota [“divided by seven”] because there the waters of the sacred Ganges were divided into seven branches. This was done for the satisfaction of the seven great ṛṣis.
Essence. The place is called Saptasrota because there the Ganges was divided into seven branches for the seven great ṛṣis. Sacred places have stories of how they became sacred. The water itself remembers.
BG 13.53
On the banks at Saptasrota, Dhṛtarāṣṭra is now engaged in beginning aṣṭāṅga-yoga by bathing three times daily, in the morning, noon and evening, by performing the Agni-hotra sacrifice with fire and by drinking only water. This helps one control the mind and the senses and frees one completely from thoughts of familial affection.
Essence. Dhṛtarāṣṭra is now beginning aṣṭāṅga yoga — bathing three times daily, Agni-hotra sacrifice, drinking only water. This helps control mind and senses to free from attachment. Even late in life, disciplined practice is possible.
BG 13.54
One who has controlled the sitting postures [the yogic āsanas] and the breathing process can turn the senses toward the Absolute Personality of Godhead and thus become immune to the contaminations of the modes of material nature, namely mundane goodness, passion and ignorance.
Essence. One who has controlled āsanas and breath can turn senses toward the Absolute and become immune to material modes. Mastery of body sets the senses free for the Lord.
BG 13.55
Dhṛtarāṣṭra will have to amalgamate his pure identity with intelligence and then merge into the Supreme Being with knowledge of his qualitative oneness, as a living entity, with the Supreme Brahman. Being freed from the blocked sky, he will have to rise to the spiritual sky.
Essence. Dhṛtarāṣṭra will amalgamate his pure identity with intelligence, then merge with Supreme Brahman. The final integration is internal, then transcendent. Practice now layers toward that.
BG 13.56
He will have to suspend all the actions of the senses, even from the outside, and will have to be impervious to interactions of the senses, which are influenced by the modes of material nature. After renouncing all material duties, he must become immovably established, beyond all sources of hindrances on the path.
Essence. He must suspend all action of senses, even outside, and be impervious to interactions of senses under material modes. After renouncing duties, fixed on transcendence. The path is sequential.
BG 13.57
O King, he will quit his body, most probably on the fifth day from today. And his body will turn to ashes.
Essence. He will quit his body probably on the fifth day. His body will turn to ashes. The predictable end gives the practitioner clarity. Knowing the date sharpens focus.
BG 13.58
While outside observing her husband, who will burn in the fire of mystic power along with his thatched cottage, his chaste wife will enter the fire with rapt attention.
Essence. While outside observing her husband burning in mystic fire with his cottage, his chaste wife will enter the fire with rapt attention. Even death has its companions. Love does not always survive the death of the beloved by remaining behind.
BG 13.59
Vidura, being affected with delight and grief, will then leave that place of sacred pilgrimage.
Essence. Vidura, affected with delight and grief, will leave that pilgrimage place. Witnessing a holy death changes the witness. Holy grief and holy joy can coexist.
BG 13.60
Having spoken thus, the great sage Nārada, along with his vīṇā, ascended into outer space. Yudhiṣṭhira kept his instruction in his heart and so was able to get rid of all lamentations.
Essence. Speaking thus, Nārada ascended with his vīṇā into outer space. Yudhiṣṭhira kept his instruction in his heart and was freed from lamentation. Receiving a teaching internally is itself the cure.