The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa - Khamkoo

asceticism, beget that son of his? We do not know who was Suka‟s mother, nor
do we know anything of the birth of that high-souled ascetic. How was it that,
when he was a mere boy, his mind became directed to the knowledge of the
subtile (Brahma)? Indeed, in this world no second person can be seen in whom
such predilections could be marked at so early an age. I desire to hear all this in
detail, O thou of great intelligence. I am never satiated with hearing thy excellent
and nectar-like words. Tell me, O grandsire in their proper order, of the
greatness, and the knowledge of Suka and of his union with the (Supreme) Soul!”
“Bhishma continued, „The Rishis did not make merit depend upon years or
decrepitude or wealth or friends. They said that he amongst them was great that
studied the Vedas. All this that thou enquirest bout has penances for its root.
That penance, again, O son of Pandu, rises from the subjugation of the senses.
Without doubt, one incurs fault by giving one‟s senses the reins. It is only by
restraining them that one succeeds in earning success. The merit that attaches
to a thousand Horse-sacrifices or a hundred Vajapeyas cannot come up to even
a sixteenth portion of the merit that arises from Yoga, I shall, on the present
occasion, recite to thee the circumstances of Suka‟s birth, the fruits he won f his
penances, and the foremost end he achieved (by his acts), topics that are
incapable of being understood by persons of uncleansed soul. Once on a time on
the summit of Meru adorned with karnikara flowers, Mahadeva sported,
accompanied by the terrible spirits that were his associates. The daughter of the
king of mountains, viz., the goddess Parvati, was also there. There at the close
vicinity of that summit, the Island-born (Vyasa) underwent extraordinary
austerities. O best of the Kurus, devoted to the practices of Yoga, the great
ascetic withdrawing himself by Yoga into his own Soul, and engaged in Dharana,
practised many austerities for the sake of (obtaining) a son. The prayer he
addressed to the great God was,--O puissant one, let me have a son that will
have he puissance of Fire and Earth and Water and Wind and Space. Engaged
in the austerest of penances, the Island-born Rishi begged of that at God who is
incapable of being approached by persons of uncleansed souls, (not by words
but) by his Yoga-resolution. The puissant Vyasa 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 the world and the Sadhyas along with the Vasus, and the Adityas, the
Rudras, and Surya and Chandramas, and the Maruts, and the Oceans, and the
Rivers and the Aswins, the Deities, the Gandharvas, and Narada and Parvata
and the Gandharva Viswavasu, and the Siddhas, and the Apsaras. There
Mahadeva, called also by the name of Rudra, sat, decked with an excellent
garland of Karnikara flowers, and blazed with effulgence like the Moon with his
rays. In those delightful and celestial woods populous with deities and heavenly
Rishis, the great Rishi remained, engaged in high Yoga-contemplation, from
desire of obtaining a son. His strength suffered no diminution, nor did he feel any
pain. At this the three worlds were much amazed. While the Rishi, possessed of
immeasurable energy, sat in Yoga, his matted locks, in con-sequence of his
energy, were seen to blaze like flames of fire. The illustrious Markandeya it was
from whom I heard of this. He used always to recite to me the acts of the deities.
Mahabharta of Krishna Dwipayana Vyasa, translated to English by Kesarimohan Ganguli
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