UJathara said ro Vidura, "The Lord vas sitring with Hts back esting eṣhinsta youhgabanyalad tree, and with His right lotus foot on His left thigh. Although He had left all household
comforts, He looked quite cheerful in that posture.
"At that time, after traveling in many parts of the world, Maitreya Muni, a great devotee of the Lord and a friend and well-wisher of the great sage Kṛṣṇa-dvaipayana Vyasa, reached that spot. Maitreya was greatly attached to the Lord, and as the Lord began to speak to me, Maitreya listened in a pleasing attitude, with his shoulder lowered.
"Lord Kṛṣṇa said to me, 'O Vasu, I know from within your mind what you desired in the days of yore when the Vasus and other demigods responsible for expanding the universal affairs performed sacrifices. You particularly desired to achieve My association. This is very difficult to obtain for others, but l award it unto you.
""O honest one, your present life is the last and the supermost because in this term of life you have been awarded My ultimate favor. Now you can leave this universe of conditioned living entities and go to My transcendental abode, Vaikuṇṭha. Your pure and unflinching devotional service has caused you to visit Me in this lonely place, and this visit is a great boon for you.
Uddhava, in the lotus millennium in the days of yore, at the beginning of the creation, l described to Brahmā My transcendental glories in the shape of what the great sages call Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam."
Uddhava continued, "O Vidura, when I was thus favored by the Lord and addressed by Him with great affection, the hairs on my body erupted and tears flowed from my eyes. Then, with a voice choked with tears, I spoke like this:
"O my Lord, devotees who engage in the transcendental loving service of Your lotus feet have no difficulty in achieving anything within the realm of the four principles of religiosity, economic development, sense gratification, and liberation. But, O great one, as far as 1 am concerned, I have preferred only to engage in the loving service of Your lotus feet.""