Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj illustrates how Śrī Kṛṣṇa of Vṛndāvan is the fundamental shelter of all.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra is the representation of mind, and Vidura that of the conscience. Dhṛtarāṣṭra represents the mind only: the mind’s inclination more so towards enjoyment: wife, children, and so on.
Bhīṣma represents a sense of duty, which may be vitiated.
Vidura holds the highest position.
The sense of duty may be misdirected, as we see in the case of the endeavor to disrobe Draupadī.
Bhīṣma did not oppose this. He is a sober man and a devotee, but his conscience was cowed down by his sense of duty. Of course, he explained this:
“Yudhiṣṭhir understands more about the conception of duty than I do, and when he did not give any opposition, then I could not.”
That was Bhīṣma’s explanation.
“What is the real direction of the Veda in this condition? The purport of Veda is known more so by Yudhiṣṭhir than myself. So, when he tolerated, I could not say anything.”
But Vidura did not care for this. He simply thought, in general, about the goodness of the dynasty in the future and boldly approached Dhṛtarāṣṭra:
“Under your care, taking advantage of your guardianship, what are these brutes doing? They are bringing danger to your dynasty by such actions. Are you dishonoring the Pāṇḍavas or are you dishonoring your own self? Draupadī is part of your family, so should you not help her in such a distressed state?”
tad-vag-visargo janatagha-viplavo
Firm faith in the blissful narrations of My pastimes, constant chanting of My glories, unwavering attachment to ceremonial worship of Me, praising Me through beautiful hymns, great respect for My devotional service, offering obeisances with the entire body, performing first-class worship of My devotees, consciousness of Me in all living entities, offering of ordinary, bodily activities in My devotional service, use of words to describe My qualities, offering the mind to Me, rejection of all material desires, giving up wealth for My devotional service, renouncing material sense gratification and happiness, and performing all desirable activities such as charity, sacrifice, chanting, vows and austerities with the purpose of achieving Me — these constitute actual religious principles, by which those human beings who have actually surrendered themselves to Me automatically develop love for Me.
Dear Uddhava, one can give up false pride and prestige by engaging in the following devotional activities.
We are in such an area. What is to be done? Try to get out. Try your best to get out of this mortal area. The saints inform us, “Come home dear friend, let us go home. Why are you suffering so much trouble unnecessarily in a foreign land? The spiritual world is real; this material world is unreal: springing and vanishing, coming and going, it is a farce! From the world of farce, we must come to reality. Here in this material world, there will be not only one war, but wars after wars, wars after wars.
Student: Many people are worried about nuclear war. They think it may come very soon.
