Shuka
and Jnanka
 |
| Vyasa |
There was a great sage
in India called Vyâsa. This Vyâsa is known as the author of the Vedanta
aphorisms, and was a holy man. His father had tried to become a very perfect
man and had failed. His grandfather had also tried and failed. His
great-grandfather had similarly tried and failed. He himself did not succeed
perfectly, but his son, Shuka, was born perfect. Vyasa taught his son wisdom;
and after teaching him the knowledge of truth himself, he sent him to the court
of King Janaka. He was a great king and was called Janaka Videha. Videha means
"without a body". Although a king, he had entirely forgotten that he
was a body; he felt that he was a spirit all the time. This boy Shuka was sent
to be taught by him. The king knew that Vyasa's son was coming to him to learn
wisdom: so he made certain arrangements beforehand. And when the boy presented
himself at the gates of the palace, the guards took no notice of him
whatsoever. They only gave him a seat, and he sat there for three days and
nights, nobody speaking to him, nobody asking him who he was or whence he was.
He was the son of a very great sage, his father was honoured by the whole
country, and he himself was a most respectable person; yet the low, vulgar
guards of the palace would take no notice of him. After that, suddenly, the
ministers of the king and all the big officials came there and received him
with the greatest honours. They conducted him in and showed him into splendid
rooms, gave him the most fragrant baths and wonderful dresses, and for eight
days they kept him there in all kinds of luxury. That solemnly serene face of
Shuka did not change even to the smallest extent by the change in the treatment
accorded to him; he was the same in the midst of this luxury as when waiting at
the door. Then he was brought before the king. The king was on his throne,
music was playing, and dancing and other amusements were going on. The king
then gave him a cup of milk, full to the brim, and asked him to go seven times
round the hall without spilling even a drop. The boy took the cup and proceeded
in the midst of the music and the attraction of the beautiful faces. As desired
by the king, seven times did he go round, and not a drop of the milk was spilt.
The boy's mind could not be attracted by anything in the world, unless he
allowed it to affect him. And when he brought the cup to the king, the king
said to him, "What your father has taught you, and what you have learned
yourself, I can only repeat. You have known the Truth; go home."
SOURCE: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda; Volume-1, Chapter-VI
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