Devanagari
स तं महाभागवतं व्रजन्तं कौरवर्षभ: ।
विश्रम्भादभ्यधत्तेदं मुख्यं कृष्णपरिग्रहे ॥ २४ ॥
Verse text
sa taṁ mahā-bhāgavataṁ
vrajantaṁ kauravarṣabhaḥ
viśrambhād abhyadhattedaṁ
mukhyaṁ kṛṣṇa-parigrahe
Synonyms
saḥ
—
Vidura
;
tam
—
unto Uddhava
;
mahā
—
bhāgavatam — the great devotee of the Lord
;
vrajantam
—
while going
;
kaurava
—
ṛṣabhaḥ — the best amongst the Kauravas
;
viśrambhāt
—
out of confidence
;
abhyadhatta
—
submitted
;
idam
—
this
;
mukhyam
—
unto the chief
;
kṛṣṇa
—
Lord Kṛṣṇa
;
parigrahe
—
in devotional service to the Lord .
Translation
While Uddhava, the chief and most confidential amongst the devotees of the Lord, was going away, Vidura, in affection and confidence, questioned him.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The best of the Kurus, Vidura, then spoke out of great trust the following words to the great devotee Uddhava, principle recipient of Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, as Uddhava was about to leave.
Viśvrambhāt means out of trust. Though Uddhava was younger than himself, Uddhava controlled Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣṇa-parigrahe), and thus was superior to him (mukhyam). Thus a younger person, superior in bhakti, should be the guru for someone elder. Vidura’s words are the proof of this.
Purport
Vidura was much older than Uddhava. By family relationship Uddhava was a contemporary brother of Kṛṣṇa’s, while Vidura was as elderly as Kṛṣṇa’s father Vasudeva. But although junior by age, Uddhava was much advanced in the devotional service of the Lord, and therefore he is described herein as the chief amongst the devotees of the Lord. Vidura was confident about this, and thus he addressed Uddhava in that higher category. That is the way of courteous dealings between two devotees.