Verse 1

¹Hearing the words of the sage as he spoke, king, words that make a man clean as nothing else does, the Kaurava, who held the telling of Vasudeva dear, asked him again. ²That emperor Svayambhuva, the dear son of the self-born: once he had his beloved wife, what did he do then, sage? ³Best of the good, tell me, who trust you, the doings of that royal sage, the first of kings; for he took his shelter in Visvaksena. ⁴For men whose hearing has cost them long labour, what the wise praise as the plain gain is this: to hear told over the qualities of those in whose hearts the lotus feet of Mukunda are. ⁵So Vidura spoke in his modesty, he who is a resting place for the feet of the thousand-headed one; and the sage, his hair standing up, carried along in the telling of the Bhagavan, answered him.