The story of Vidur and his wife

By the curse of Rishi Mandava, Lord Yamraj took birth as the younger brother of Pandu, he was called Vidur. Vidur was the Prime Minister of King Dhritrashtra. He was the author of the 'Book of Ethics'(Niti Shastra). 

Although Dhritrashtra was not a righteous king, he used to respect Vidur. 

Once, Duryodhan tried to burn the Pandavas and their mother Kunti alive by sending them to a palace in the outskirts of the city. That palace was made of lac. When Vidur came to know about this he sent a message to them in their code language. Due to this, the Pandavas could escape from there. He used to go against Duryodhan's unrighteous, due to this he also got insulted by Duryodhan. 

When the Kauravas began to insult Draupadi in the Raj Sabha, Vidur immediately left the court as he could not see the unrighteous deed. When the Pandavas were exiled from the kingdom for 13 years, their mother Kunti stayed with Vidur. When Lord Krishna came for the Peace treaty before the Great war between the Kauravas and Pandavas, he rejected Duryodhan's invitation to start at his palace and directly went to Vidur's house, as Vidur was a true devotee of Lord Krishna. The story of Vidur's wife is famous, based on the visit of Krishna to their house. Vidur's wife was also a true devotee of Lord Krishna. On seeing Krishna she used to get swayed by devotion. She gave Krishna bananas to eat, peeling them one after another. In her devotion, she did not see what she was giving Krishna to eat. Actually, she peeled the bananas and gave the skin of the banana to Lord Krishna, and he ate it without any problem. 

When the time of war came Vidur didn't take any side. He resigned from the position of Prime Minister and went on pilgrimage. He was on pilgrimage for around 36 years. When he went to Mathura, there Rishi Udhav tells that Mahabharat was over and the Pandav had won. He also told Vidur that Krishna has told Rishi Maitreya to give him the knowledge of Bhagvat. So from there Vidur goes to Rishi Maitreya in Haridwar. After obtaining the knowledge of Bhagvat he goes back to Hastinapur. There he gives Dhritarashtra and Gandhari the knowledge of Bhagvat. After getting this knowledge Gandhari and Dhritarashtra go to the jungle on Vanvas (exile). After this Vidur also goes to the forest and leaves his body ( takes Samadhi ) like that of many Rishis.

Bhaktmal