मोक्षधर्म पर्व — शुकदेव की कथा

Yudhishthira said Tell me, O grandfather, how the great Shuka of austere penances took birth as the son of Vyasa, and how did he succeed in acquiring the highest success?

Upon what woman did Vyasa, having asceticism for his wealth, beget that son of his? We do not know who was Shuka's mother, nor do we know anything of the birth of that great ascetic.

How was it that, when he was a mere boy, his mind became bent to the knowledge of the subtile? Indeed, in this world no second person can be seen in whom such marks could be seen at so early an age.

I wish to hear all this in full, you of great intelligence. I am never satiated with hearing your excellent and nectar-like words.

Tell me, grandfather, in their due order, of the greatness, and the knowledge of Shuka and of his union with the (Supreme) Soul!

The Rishis did not make merit depend upon years of decrepitude or riches or friends. They said that he amongst them was great who studied the Vedas.

All this that you have asked has penances for its root. That penance, again, O son of Pandu, originates from the subjugation of the senses.

Forsooth, one incurs fault by letting loose his senses. It is only by controlling them that one succeeds in acquiring success.

The merit of a thousand Horse-sacrifices or a hundred Vajapeyas is not equal to even a sixteenth part of the merit of Yoga.

I shall, now, recite to you the circumstances of Shuka's birth, the fruits he acquired of his penances, and the foremost end he achieved. These are the topics which persons of uncleansed souls cannot understand.

Once on a time on the summit of Meru adorned with Karnikara flowers, Mahadeva sported, in company of his followers, the terrible spirits.

The daughter of the king of mountains, viz., the goddess Parvati, was also there. There near that summit, the Island-born (Vyasa) practised extraordinary austerities.

O best of the Kuru, given to the practices of Yoga, the great ascetic, withdrawing himself by Yoga into his own soul, and engaged in concentration, practised many austerities for the sake of a son.

The prayer he offered to the great God was,-~O powerful one, let me have a son that will have the might of Fire and Earth and Weather and Wind and Ether.

Engaged in the austerest of penances the Island-born Rishi begged of that great God, who cannot be approached by persons of impure souls, by his Yoga.

The powerful Vyasa remained there for a hundred years, living on air alone, engaged in worshipping many formed Mahadeva, the lord ofUma.

There were all the twice-born Rishis and royal sages and the Regents of the world and the Sadhyas along with the Vasus, and the Adityas, the Rudras, and the Sun and the Moon, and the Maruts, and the Oceans, and the rivers, and the Ashvins, the Deities, the Gandharvas, and Narada, and Parvata, and the Gandharva Vishvavasu, and the Siddhas, and the Apsaras.

There Mahadeva, called also Rudra, sat, adorned with an excellent garland of Karnikara flowers, and effulgent like the Moon with his rays.

In those delightful and celestial forests populous with gods and heavenly Rishis, the great Rishi remained, engaged in high Yogacontemplation, for getting a son.

His strength suffered no decrease, nor did he feel any pain. There at the three worlds were much surprised.

While the Rishi, gifted with immeasurable energy, sat in Yoga, his mattered locks, on account of his energy, were seen to blaze like flames of fire.

I heard to this from the illustrious Markandeya. He used always to recite to me the acts of the gods.

It is for this that the matted locks of the great Vyasa, thus enblazed by his energy on that occasion, seem to this day to be gifted with the hue of fire.

Pleased with such penances and such devotion, O Bharata, of the Rishi, the great God resolved to grant him his wish.

Smiling with pleasure, the three-eyed god addressed him and said,-O Island-born one, you will have a son after your heart.

Endued with greatness, he shall be as pure as Fire, as Wind, as Earth, as Water, and as Space.

He will be conscious of his being Brahma's self ; his understanding and soul shall be devoted to Brahma, and he shall completely depend upon Brahma so as to be at one with.