विदुर उवाच ये त्वयाभिहिता ब्रह्मन्सुताः प्राचीनबर्हिषः ते रुद्रगीतेन हरिं सिद्धिमापुः प्रतोष्य काम्
vidura uvāca ye tvayābhihitā brahman sutāḥ prācīnabarhiṣaḥ te rudra-gītena hariṁ siddhim āpuḥ pratoṣya kām
Synonyms
viduraḥ uvāca—Vidura said; ye—those who; tvayā—by you; abhihitāḥ—were spoken about; brahman—O brāhmaṇa; sutāḥ—sons; prācīnabarhiṣaḥ—of King Prācīnabarhi; te—all of them; rudra-gītena—by the song composed by Lord Śiva; harim—the Lord; siddhim—success; āpuḥ—achieved; pratoṣya—having satisfied; kām—what..
Translation
Vidura inquired from Maitreya: O brāhmaṇa, you formerly spoke about the sons of Prācīnabarhi and informed me that they satisfied the Supreme Personality of Godhead by chanting a song composed by Lord Śiva. What did they achieve in this way?
Purport
In the beginning, Maitreya Ṛṣi narrated the activities of the sons of Prācīnabarhi. These sons went beside a great lake, which was like an ocean, and, fortunately finding Lord Śiva, they learned how to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead by chanting the songs composed by Lord Śiva. Now their father's attachment for fruitive activities was disapproved by Nārada, who therefore kindly instructed Prācīnabarhi by telling him the allegorical story of Purañjana. Now Vidura again wanted to hear about his sons, and he was especially inquisitive to know what they achieved by satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Here the words siddhim āpuḥ, or "achieved perfection," are very important. Lord Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā:
manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu
kaścid yatati siddhaye
yatatām api siddhānāṁ
kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ
"Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth." (Bg. 7.3)
Out of many, many millions of people, one may be interested in learning how to attain success in spiritual matters. The supreme success is mentioned also in Bhagavad-gītā:
mām upetya punar janma
duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam
nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ
saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ
"After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection." (Bg. 8.15)
And what is that highest perfection? That is also explained in that verse. The highest perfection is to return home, back to Godhead, so that one will not have to return to this material world and transmigrate from one body to another in the dream of material existence. By the grace of Lord Śiva, the Pracetās actually attained perfection and returned home, back to Godhead, after enjoying material facilities to the highest extent. Maitreya will now narrate that to Vidura.