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Sage Suka’s counsel to King Parikshit

“Realize Truth of Atman”

“Realize Truth of Atman” — Sage Suka blesses King Parikshit

[ King Parikshit is to die, within seven days, of snake bite. Before that he avows to know the Truth of Existence. Seeing the earnestness of the King, the great Sage, Suka, expounds Srimad Bhagavatam (stories of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu) to him. Without a break, day and night, the King ‘listens’ totally and wholly. The Sage is pleased and gives him the final instructions. The King’s response, too, is fruitfully revealing. ]

Sage Suka:

O King! Abandon the feeling that you are going to ‘die’ — a feeling that befits only animals (pashu buddhi). The body, a previously non-existent thing, seems to be existent now, but will cease to exist. However, ‘you’ are not the body; you will never be destroyed. (12-5-2)

Nor will you, having lived, come into being again — in your son, grandson, and so on, like the sprout from the seed — since you are entirely different from the ‘body’ (like the fire, which, though seen in association with wood, is not its product and is entirely different from it). (12-5-4)

As one can see the cutting of one’s own head in a dream (and in reality is not at all affected), so is one’s death to the Atman, which is pure Witness. The Self, which is unborn and immortal, is a pure Witness to the death of the body. (12-5-4)

When a pot is broken, the space inside the pot merges with the infinite space. Similarly, when the body perishes through Jnana, the jiva becomes one with Brahman; the body (and so forth) will be clearly known as entirely non-existent, and only mahakasa or chidakasa will exist. (12-5-5)

The mind projects the adjuncts — like the bodies (subtle and physical), gunas and karmas. Maya, which is the Lord’s power that entangles the jiva in the trap of becoming, is just the mind. (12-5-6)

O Noble One! Thus, through profound intelligence, pregnant with spiritual intuition and constant surrender to Lord Vasudeva, grasp the Self by the Self (that is, abide in the Self through the Self). (12-5-9)

If the Truth of the Atman is realized, the serpent Takshaka will not consume you under the promptings of the Sage’s son’s curse. The cause that brings about the death will not even touch you, who are one with the Lord of Death, the Isvara, in fact, the death of Death Itself. (12-5-10)

Parikshit! This should be your only meditation: ‘I AM’ Brahman, the Supreme Abode. Only Brahman is ‘I AM.’ This is the Supreme state of Truth experience. In this way, know your Real Nature, and collect yourself and offer it into the Atman (‘I AM’-ness) that is without any division. In that State of Oneness, you will see Takshaka, extending his tongue and belching with poison, only as Atman — the ‘body’ as the Atman, and the entire Universe as the Atman. You will not behold anything other than Atman. You will not stand apart because you are Brahman. (12-5-11)

O dear one! I have imparted to you whatever you wanted to know about the leelas of the Self of the Universe, Lord Hari. Now, become established in the Self. Are there any more questions? (12-5-13)

King Parikshit:

I have indeed attained the Blessed Truth. Blessed I Am. From your mouth, I have been able to hear about the deathless, beginningless, Supreme Truth, Lord Hari. You, the Supremely Compassionate One, have really blessed me. (12-6-2)

O Holy One! Now, I do not fear Takshaka or any other form of Death. I have entered the State of Brahma Nirvana. You have revealed to me the State of Fearlessness. (12-6-5)

O Holy One! Please bless me to depart. Let me offer (gather inward) my ‘senses’ and the ‘mind’ to the Lord, who is the innermost Source of my being. I will give up my pranas, and the ‘mind’ drained of all desires, by entering into the Self. (12-6-6)”

My ignorance is completely removed through this constant exposure to Jnana by burning it in the Fire of Contemplation (Vijnana). Lord! You have pointed out to me the abode of Supreme Blessedness, the Abode of the Lord. (12-6-7).

L to R: Guy Hague,Attendant Krishnaswami, Young Ramanathan (Sub-Registrar Narayana Iyer’s eldest son), Elenor Pauline Noye, Lakshman Joo,( prominent expounder of “Kashmiri Savisim” in Kashmir), a Muslim vendor devotee