Śukadeva said: Previously Vidura, after giving up his prosperous house for entering the forest, asked this question to the powerful Maitreya. Offering respects to guru and Kṛṣṇa, the ocean of mercy, I take shelter of Śukadeva, master of the world, eye of the universe. I offer myself and everything I possess to he who is the life of the gopīs, the controller, for service to his dear devotees. In the thirty-three chapters of the Third Canto, sarga, the creation of the totality of matter with elements manifesting from prakṛti by the glance of Viṣṇu, is described. [Note: From the Third to Twelfth Canto, Viśvanātha identifies each Canto with one of the ten topics of Bhāgavatam.] Having already shown that the Bhāgavatam was first revealed by the Lord to Brahmā and Nārada, it is again revealed by Śeṣa to the Kumāras. [Note: This is explained in SB 3.8.4.] The conversation between Vidura and Uddhava continues for four chapters. Eight chapters deal with sarga and visarga. Seven chapters describe the pastimes of Varāha. One chapter describes the visarga in summary and four chapters describe Kapila. Nine chapters describe his teachings. This completes the Third Canto. In the First Chapter, giving up his elder brother, Vidura departs and goes on pilgrimage. There he meets Uddhava and asks questions, though he was unsteady in hearing because of separation from the Lord. Uddhava answers two or three of the questions asked by Parīkṣit in the eighth chapter of the Second Canto. Śukadeva, considering that the questions of Parīkṣit were previously asked by Vidura to Maitreya, decided to answer Parīkṣit’s questions by first describing the introduction which gave rise to their conversation. Ṛddhimat means full of all wealth.