Parikshit Maharaja then asked Sukadeva to tell him about the circumstances
in which Vidura, the brother of Pandu and Dhritarastra, had met the sage
Maitreya and had discussed important spiritual topics with him. Sukadeva
continued to narrate: "The blind regent, Dhritarastra, had been degraded by
his desire to please his evil sons, and allowed them to commit many
offenses against the Pandavas. Duryodhana and his brothers tried many
times to murder their cousins, mistreated Draupadi in public, and stripped
Yudhisthira of all his possessions with a fixed dice game.
Vidura had admonished his brother and nephews many times, warning
them that such crimes would bring terrible consequences, also because the
Pandavas were powerful kshatriyas and were personally supported by Lord
Krishna. Instead of heeding his uncle's wise advice, Duryodhana insulted
him too, calling him the son of a maidservant, and ordering the guards to
throw him out of the palace.
Pained by those unwarranted offenses, Vidura did not wait to be mistreated
further, and he immediately left the court to visit many pilgrimage places,
such as Ayodhya, Dvaraka and Mathura. He traveled alone as a humble
beggar, without depending on anyone, crossing through pure and sacred
regions. When he reached Prabhasa he learned about the death of all his
relatives in the battle and he turned west, towards the Sarasvati river, and
went to the eleven tirthas on her banks - Trita, Usana, Mahu, Prithu, Agni,
Asita, Vayu, Sudasa, Go, Guha and Sraddhadeva - visiting many temples
dedicated to the Lord.
Then he traveled through the wealthy western provinces of Surat, Sauvira,
Matsya and Kurujangala, and he finally came to the bank of the Yamuna
river, where he met Uddhava, the great devotee of the Lord, and asked him
for news about Krishna and the Yadu dynasty.
