Chapter 324

“Yudhishthira said, ‘Tell me, O grandsire, how the high-souled Suka ofaustere penances took birth as the son of Vyasa, and how did he succeedin attaining to the highest success? Upon what woman did Vyasa, enduedwith wealth of asceticism, beget that son of his? We do not know who wasSuka’s mother, nor do we know anything of the birth of that high-souledascetic. How was it that, when he was a mere boy, his mind becamedirected to the knowledge of the subtile (Brahma)? Indeed, in this worldno second person can be seen in whom such predilections could be markedat so early an age. I desire to hear all this in detail, O thou of greatintelligence. I am never satiated with hearing thy excellent andnectar-like words. Tell me, O grandsire in their proper order, of thegreatness, and the knowledge of Suka and of his union with the (Supreme)Soul!”

“Bhishma continued, ‘The Rishis did not make merit depend upon years ordecrepitude or wealth or friends. They said that he amongst them wasgreat that studied the Vedas. All this that thou enquirest bout haspenances for its root. That penance, again, O son of Pandu, rises fromthe subjugation of the senses. Without doubt, one incurs fault by givingone’s senses the reins. It is only by restraining them that one succeedsin earning success. The merit that attaches to a thousandHorse-sacrifices or a hundred Vajapeyas cannot come up to even asixteenth portion of the merit that arises from Yoga, I shall, on thepresent occasion, recite to thee the circumstances of Suka’s birth, thefruits he won f his penances, and the foremost end he achieved (by hisacts), topics that are incapable of being understood by persons ofuncleansed soul. Once on a time on the summit of Meru adorned withkarnikara flowers, Mahadeva sported, accompanied by the terrible spiritsthat were his associates. The daughter of the king of mountains, viz.,the goddess Parvati, was also there. There at the close vicinity of thatsummit, the Island-born (Vyasa) underwent extraordinary austerities. Obest of the Kurus, devoted to the practices of Yoga, the great asceticwithdrawing himself by Yoga into his own Soul, and engaged in Dharana,practised many austerities for the sake of (obtaining) a son. The prayerhe addressed to the great God was,–O puissant one, let me have a sonthat will have he puissance of Fire and Earth and Water and Wind andSpace. Engaged in the austerest of penances, the Island-born Rishi beggedof that at God who is incapable of being approached by persons ofuncleansed souls, (not by words but) by his Yoga-resolution. The puissantVyasa remained there for a hundred years, subsisting on air alone,engaged in adoring Mahadeva of multifarious form, the lord of Uma.Thither all the regenerate Rishis and royal sages and the Regents of theworld and the Sadhyas along with the Vasus, and the Adityas, the Rudras,and Surya and Chandramas, and the Maruts, and the Oceans, and the Riversand the Aswins, the Deities, the Gandharvas, and Narada and Parvata andthe Gandharva Viswavasu, and the Siddhas, and the Apsaras. ThereMahadeva, called also by the name of Rudra, sat, decked with an excellentgarland of Karnikara flowers, and blazed with effulgence like the Moonwith his rays. In those delightful and celestial woods populous withdeities and heavenly Rishis, the great Rishi remained, engaged in highYoga-contemplation, from desire of obtaining a son. His strength sufferedno diminution, nor did he feel any pain. At this the three worlds weremuch amazed. While the Rishi, possessed of immeasurable energy, sat inYoga, his matted locks, in con-sequence of his energy, were seen to blazelike flames of fire. The illustrious Markandeya it was from whom I heardof this. He used always to recite to me the acts of the deities. It isfor this that the matted locks of the high-souled and (Island-born)Krishna, thus emblazed by his energy on that occasion, seem to this dayto be endued with the complexion of fire. Gratified with such penancesand such devotion, O Bharata, of the Rishi, the great God resolved (togrant him his wish). The Three-eyed deity, smiling with pleasure,addressed him and said,–O Island-born one, thou shalt get a son like towhat thou wishest! Possessed of greatness, he shall be as pure as Fire,as Wind, as Earth, as Water, and as Space! He shall be possessed of theconsciousness of his being Brahma’s self; his understanding and soulshall be devoted to Brahma, and he shall completely depend upon Brahma soas to be identifiable with it!'”