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Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 3: Chapter 4: Verses 16-28
As directed by Uddhava, Vidura calls on the sage Maitreya
That You should resort to action, though actionless, should be born, though devoid of birth, should take to Your heels for fear of the enemy and seek shelter in a fortress, even though being the Destroyer of all, and should take to wife (over) ten thousand damsels though delighting in Your own blissful Self, puzzles the mind even of the knowing. That You,whose knowledge is unimpeded, uninterrupted and ever free from doubt and error, and who are ever awake, should call me in Your deliberations and consult me as an ignorant man would do, perplexes our mind as it were, O glorious Lord ! (Pray, instruct us, my master, in that supreme and integral wisdom which unfolds the mystery of Your Being and which You taught to Brahma, in case it is fit to be received by us, so that we may easily get over the sorrows (of mundane existence)." When I submitted to Him in these words what was uppermost in my mind, the supreme Lord with lotus-like eyes revealed to me His transcendent character. Having thus learnt from my worshipful Guru (Sri Krsna) the way of realizing God, who is the only Truth, and bowing to the Lord's feet, I went round Him clockwise as a mark of reverence and came away to this place, distressed at heart due to separation from Him. Delighted by His sight, but now afflicted by separation from Him, O Vidura, I shall proceed to the sacred spot of Badarikarama, His favourite retreat, where the glorious Narayana and the worshipful sage Nara are engaged in peaceful yet austere penance extending over a long period (a whole Kalpa) for the good of the world.
Sri Suka continued : The enlightened Vidura assuaged by force of wisdom the grief that had burst forth (in his heart) when he heard the unbearable news about the death of his near and dear ones. When that great devotee (Uddhava),the chief among the servants of Lord Sri Krsna, was about to depart (for Badarikasrama), Vidura (the foremost among the Kauravas) spoke to him out of love (as follows). Vidura said : Be pleased to impart to us the supreme wisdom which unfolds the secret of the Lord's own essential nature and which the divine Sri Krsna, the Master of Yoga, taught to you; for the devotees of Lord Virtu move about (in the world) only in order to accomplish the object of their servants. Uddhava replied : For the knowledge of that truth you should wait upon the sage Maitreya (son of Kusaru), who was personally instructed in this behalf by the Lord in my presence, while He was about to leave this mortal world.
Sri Suka continued : Relieved of his great agony (of separation from the Lord) by the nectar-like talk that he thus had with Vidura on the virtues of Lord Sri Krsna (the Soul of the universe), Uddhava (the son of Upagu) passed that night as if it were a moment on the bank of the Yamuna (the younger sister of god Yama) [1]
and departed thence (early next morning). The king asked : When even the topmost generals of the car-warriors among the Vrsnis and Bhojas had met their end (as a result of the imprecation pronounced by the sages), nay, when Sri Hari (Sri Krsna) Himself, the Supreme Ruler even of the three lords of the universe, (viz., Brahma, Visnu and Siva), had to leave His body (in the eyes of the world), how is it that Uddhava alone, the foremost of those generals, survived ?
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