An Index to the Names in the Mahabharata, with Short Explanations and a Concordance to the Bombay and Calcutta Editions and P. C. Roy's Translation c5.s2.1361

c5.s2.1361

Çukakṛti(ḥ) (“the works of Çuka”). § 713 (Mokshadh.): XII, 326-7 (12215-12311) (continuation of Çukotpatti). Bhīshma said to Yudhishṭhira: Vyāsa desired Çuka to study the Mokshadharma; Çuka mastered all the treatises on yoga, as also the science promulgated by Kapila. Then Vyāsa asked him to go to Janaka, the king of Mithilā, and not to the skies (by his yoga power); nor should he think himself superior to Janaka, though he was only his yājya. Crossing the Varshas of Meru and Hari and Himavat (Meror Hareç ca dve varshe varsham Haimavatan tataḥ), Çuka came to Bhāratavarsha. Having seen many countries inhabited by Cinas and Hūnas, he reached Āryāvarta, and at last the country of the Videhas, protected by Janaka, and then Mithilā. He had not been fatigued on the way. He obtained permission to enter the city, but was at first roughly forbidden to enter the palace. At last he was admitted into the first chamber; thence he was led into the second chamber by the minister, and thence into a garden that was like a second Caitraratha, with damsels equal to the Aps., who entertained Çuka and gave him to eat; he, however, went unaffected through his rites, and in the first part of the night he devoted himself to yoga (XII, 326). The next morning he was received by Janaka, and was instructed by him about moksha and the duties of a brahman; “ordinarily the purified understanding necessary for attaining moksha cannot be obtained without passing through all four stages of religious life; but he who in the course of many births has obtained a pure mind, may attain to moksha even in the very first stage (i.e. brahmacarya), and then there is no need for the other three stages,” quoting a saying of king Yayāti; “through the favour of thy father I have acquired to omniscience; thy knowledge is much greater than what you think it to be” (XII, 327). (For continuation v. Çukakṛtya.)