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.s2.1371

c5.s2.1371

Çukotpatti(ḥ) (“origin of Çuka”). § 712 (Mokshadh.): XII, 324-325 (12158-12214). Questioned by Yudhishṭhira about Çuka, whose mind became bent on Brāhman when he was a mere boy, Bhīshma answered: The R. did not make merit depend upon age, etc., but upon the study of the Vedas and upon tapas; the merit of 1,000 horse-sacrifices or 100 vājapeyas cannot come up to even 1/8 of the merit that arises from yoga. Once on the summit of Meru, Mahādeva sported with his followers and Pārvatī, while Vyāsa, devoted to yoga and dhāraṇā, practised austerities for 100 years for the sake of obtaining a son, subsisting on air, adoring Mahādeva. Thither went R., B.-ṛ., Lp., S., V., Ā., R., Sūrya, Candramas, Indra, M., the Oceans, the Rivers, A., D., G., Nārada, Parvata, Viçvāvasu, Si., and Aps. This has been told to me by Mārkaṇḍeya. Çiva granted him that he would have a son like Fire, Wind, Earth, Water, and Space, and devoted to Brāhman (XII, 324). Vyāsa was one day employed in rubbing his sticks to make a fire, when he beheld the Aps. Ghṛtācī, and fell in love with her. When she approached, transformed into a she-parrot, he dropped his seed, which became a son, who, from this circumstance, came to he called by the name of Çuka. Gaṅgā came and bathed him in her waters; G. sung, and Aps. danced, etc. Viçvāvasu, Tumburu, Nā., Hāhā, and Hūhū eulogized the birth of Çuka; there came Lp. with Çakra, D., D.-ṛ., and B.-ṛ.; Māruta showered celestial flowers; Çiva, together with Pārvatī, invested Çuka with the sacred thread; Çakra gave him a celestial kamaṇḍalu and celestial robes, etc. As soon as Çuka was born, the Vedas, including the mysteries and abstracts (sarahasyāḥ sasaṅgrahāḥ), came to dwell in him, just as they dwelt in his father. Çuka selected Bṛhaspati for his preceptor, remembering the universal practice. Having studied the Vedas, the tradition (itihāsam), and the state policy (rājaçāstrāni), Çuka returned home, after paying his preceptor the tuition fee. Adopting the vow of a brahmacārin he practised the hardest penances, even in his childhood. Taking no pleasure in the three modes of life (the domestic, etc.), he only kept in view the law of emancipation (mokshadharmānudarçinaḥ) (XII, 325). (For continuation v. Çukakṛti.)