Shrimad Baagavatam - Parikshit - II

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The brahmin, who was known as Sameeka Mahamuni, was in his samaadhi, undisturbed. But his young son, Sringi, who was playing about nearby, came there a little later and saw the snake over his father's body and began to cry. Some body told him that the king had done so. The boy got angry and immediately cursed the king that he would be bitten by a snake and die in seven days. Meanwhile, due to the commotion, the brahmin came to his wakeful state and enquired about the snake and the wailing of his son. He came to know of the visit of the king and felt greatly apologetic for the lapse in not giving due respect to the king. He condemned the action of his son. A great crime had been committed against a very noble king. A righteous king to die in seven days! what a great calamity for the country! But he could not retrieve it.

He immediately sent word to the king of the sad consequence and the impending danger and alerted him. That was all he could do.

As soon as the king heard of his impending danger, without a moment's hesitation or delay, he handed over charge of his kingdom to his son Janamejaya. He left his wife, family, palace, kingdom, kith and kin and reached the banks of the sacred Ganges, found a convenient seat and sat down. In a flash, as if by wireless, many sages, saints, satpurushas assembled where he sat. The king felt delighted on seeing them all. He narrated his mistake and the consequences and the danger that awaited him. He prostrated before them, begged of them to show the way for liberation, the way to avoid a rebirth.

Before king Parikshtith could finish his self humiliating story and humble request, there appeared on the scene Sage Suka. He was otherwise called Suka Brahma, an avadhuta. A youth of sixteen, who never cared to cover his body, who saw the Lord everywhere; he was always living in the Lord. In all the physical, mental, and intellectual levels, he could feel nothing other than Brahman. He would not stay in anyone place for more time than that required to milk a cow. If he felt hungry and at that time chanced to see somebody milking a cow, he would stop there and if he is offered some milk he would drink the same; otherwise he would just pass on as if nothing had happened. He would not ask anything.

Sage Suka heard the story of Parikshith in full, pitied him and consoled him that seven days was more than the time needed for getting liberation. He initiated him into Brahman-Vidya. He found the king to be a fit adhikari for it. So Parikshith knew that it was the body that would die in seven days, that He was Eternal and so cheerfully went on questioning and hearing of the plays of the Lord. Sage Suka began to narrate one Leela after another of the Lord, night and day without a break.

About the author

This article has been written for the Vedanta Vani magazine of Chinmaya Mission.