imported>Redtigerxyz: Adding local short description: "Hindu sage", overriding Wikidata description "Main Narrator of the scripture Shrimad Bhagavata Mahapurana" (Shortdesc helper)

2021-08-16T15:59:11Z

Adding local short description: "Hindu sage", overriding Wikidata description "Main Narrator of the scripture Shrimad Bhagavata Mahapurana" (Shortdesc helper)

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{{Short description|Hindu sage}}
{{about|a Hindu sage|the animation studio|Shuka (studio)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox character
| color = #FFC569
| info-hdr = Personal Information
| image = Suka Dev and Parikshit.jpg
| caption = Shuka preaching to Parikshit and the sages
| weapon =
| affiliation =
| spouses = Pivari
| family = '''Parents''' {{bulleted list|[[Ved Vyas]] (father)|Vatikā (mother)|Ghritachi (mother) ''{{small|(some accounts)}}''}}
| children = '''Sons'''<ref>Padma Purana Srishti Khanda First Canto Chapter 9: Verse 40-41</ref>{{bulleted list|Krsnagaura|Sambhu|2 unnamed sons}}'''Daughters'''{{bulleted list|Krtti}}
| relatives =
}}

'''Shuka'''<ref name="Matchett">{{cite book|last=Matchett|first=Freda|title=Krishna, Lord or Avatara?: the relationship between Krishna and Vishnu|publisher=Routledge|year=2001|isbn=978-0-7007-1281-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1oqTYiPeAxMC&pg=PA108}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Hiltebeitel|first=Alf|author-link=Alf Hiltebeitel|title=Rethinking the Mahābhārata: a reader's guide to the education of the dharma king|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=2001|isbn=978-0-226-34054-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CMvUBees4vMC&pg=PA278}}</ref> ({{lang-sa|शुक}} {{IAST3|Śuka}}, also '''''Shukadeva''''' {{IAST|Śuka-deva}}) is a [[rishi]] (sage) in [[Hinduism]]. He is the son of the sage [[Vyasa]] and the main narrator of the scripture ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]''. Most of the ''Bhagavata Purana'' consists of Shuka reciting the story to the dying king [[Parikshit]]. Shuka is depicted as a [[sannyasi]], renouncing the world in pursuit of [[moksha]] (liberation), which most narratives assert that he achieved.<ref name="Sullivan">{{cite book|last=Sullivan|first=Bruce M.|title=Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa and the Mahābhārata: a new interpretation|publisher=BRILL|year=1990|pages=40|isbn=978-90-04-08898-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JIfOXgak2H8C&pg=PA40}}</ref>

==Legends==
===Birth===
According to the [[Hindu epic]] ''[[Mahabharata]]'', after one hundred years of austerity by Vyasa, Shuka was churned out of a stick of fire, born with ascetic power and with the [[Vedas]] dwelling inside him, just like his father. As per ''[[Skanda Purana]]'', Vyasa had a wife, Vatikā (alias Pinjalā), daughter of a sage named Jābāli. Their union produced a son, who repeated everything what he heard, thus receiving the name Shuka (lit. Parrot).<ref name = "Vatika2" >{{Cite book|last=Dalal|first=Roshen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trh9DwAAQBAJ&q=vatika&pg=PT170|title=The 108 Upanishads: An Introduction|date=2019-01-06|publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited|isbn=978-93-5305-377-2|language=en}}</ref><ref name = "Vatika1" >{{Cite book|last=Pattanaik|first=Devdutt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IVsoDwAAQBAJ&q=vatik%C4%81+jabali&pg=PT59|title=The Goddess in India: The Five Faces of the Eternal Feminine|date=2000-09-01|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-59477-537-6|language=en}}</ref><ref>Skanda Purāṇa, Nāgara Khanda, ch. 147</ref>

Other texts including the ''[[Devi Bhagavata Purana]]'' also narrate the birth of Shuka but with drastic differences. Vyasa was desiring an heir, when an ''[[apsara]]'' (celestial damsel) named Ghritachi flew in front of him in form of a beautiful parrot, causing him sexual arousal. He discharges his semen, which fell on some sticks and a son developed. This time, he was named Shuka because of the role of the celestial parrot.<ref name = "Vyasa" >https://archive.org/stream/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft#page/885/mode/1up</ref>

A slightly different story is told in other scriptures. One day, the god [[Shiva]] prepares to narrate the secret of immortality to his consort-goddess [[Parvati]], at her behest. He orders all other beings in the vicinity to leave. Shiva closes his eyes and instructs Parvati to make a [[humming]] sound to indicate her attention. At the very moment of Shiva's instruction, a parrot is born from its egg and becomes an audience to the secret divine conversation. Shiva starts his narrative and Parvati makes the sound, but mid-way falls asleep. The parrot, however, continues to make the humming sound so Shiva continues. After completely revealing the secret, Shiva finds Parvati asleep and realizes that another being has eavesdropped. He notices the parrot and chases to kill him. The tiny parrot flies into a nearby forest and enters into the womb of Vyasa’s wife through her mouth when she was yawning. Shiva arrives and demands that the parrot comes out, but Vyasa persuades him to leave the parrot as if he truly knew the secret, it was no use killing it as it would be immortal. Then Vyasa asks the parrot to come out, but it refuses, stating that if he comes out, he will be termed as Vyasa’s son and he does not want any [[Attachment theory|attachment]], and wants only [[moksha]]. This continues for 12 years and it makes Vyasa’s wife bear the pain, as the parrot is growing in her womb as a child for all those years. Vyasa prays to the god [[Vishnu]] to help his wife. Vishnu, who was present on the earth as [[Krishna]], arrives. Krishna assures the parrot that no one would kill him and he would be incapable of attachment and eligible for moksha. The parrot then comes out in a human form and is named “Shuka” (Sanskrit for “parrot”).

===Life===
[[File:When Sukar came the women in semi nude condition in the river never bothered; but when Vyasa came they hurriedly put their clothes on. Sukar’s mind was as pure as a crystal.jpg|thumb|When Shuka came, the ''apsaras'' in semi-nude condition in the river never bothered; but when Vyasa came they hurriedly put their clothes on.<br>Shuka’s mind was as pure as a crystal.]]

The Mahabharata also recounts how Shuka was sent by Vyasa for training to King [[Janaka]], who was considered to be a [[Jivanmukta]] or one who is liberated while still in a body. Shuka studied under the [[guru]] of the gods ([[Brihaspati]]) and Vyasa. Shuka asked Janaka about the way to liberation, with Janaka recommending the traditional progression of the four [[Ashrama (stage)|ashrama]]s, which included the householder stage. After expressing contempt for the householder's life, Shuka questioned Janaka about the real need for following the householder's path. Seeing Shuka's advanced state of realization, Janaka told him that there was no need in his case.<ref name="Gier">{{cite book|last=Gier|first=Nicholas F.|title=Spiritual Titanism: Indian, Chinese, and Western perspectives|publisher=SUNY Press|year=2000|series=SUNY series in constructive postmodern thought|pages=70–71|isbn=978-0-7914-4527-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U6t2UdyNkngC&pg=PA70}}</ref>

Stories recount how Shuka surpassed his father in spiritual attainment. Once, when following his son, Vyasa encountered a group of celestial nymphs who were bathing. Shuka's purity was such that the nymphs did not consider him to be a distraction, even though he was naked, but covered themselves when faced with his father.<ref name=Venkatesananda1989>{{cite book | author = Venkatesananda, S. | year = 1989 | title = The Concise Srimad Bhagavatam | publisher = State University of New York Press}}</ref><ref name=Purdy2006>{{cite journal | author = Purdy, S.B. | year = 2006 | title = Whitman and the (National) Epic: a Sanskrit Parallel | journal = Revue Française d Études Américaines | volume = 108 | issue = 2006/2 | pages = 23–32 | doi = 10.3917/rfea.108.0023 | url = http://www.cairn.info/article.php?ID_REVUE=RFEA&ID_NUMPUBLIE=RFEA_108&ID_ARTICLE=RFEA_108_0023 | access-date = 2008-05-12}}</ref> Shuka is sometimes portrayed as wandering about naked, due to his complete lack of self-consciousness.<ref name="Prabhavananda">{{cite book|last=Prabhavananda|first=Swami|title=Spiritual Heritage of India|publisher=Vedanta Press|date=1979|orig-year=1962|pages=137|isbn=978-0-87481-035-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zupDCwE73O0C&pg=PA137}}</ref>

===Death===
A completely different version of the later life of Shuka is given in the ''[[Devi-Bhagavata Purana]]'', considered a secondary Purana ([[upapurana]]) by many, but important work in the [[Shakta]] tradition. In this account, Shuka is convinced by Janaka to follow the ashrama tradition and returns home to marry and follow the path of yoga. He has five children with his wife Pivari—four sons and a daughter. The story concludes in the same vein as the common tradition, with Shuka achieving moksha.<ref>{{cite book|last=Fort|first=Andrew O.|author2=Patricia Y. Mumme |title=Living liberation in Hindu thought|publisher=SUNY Press|year=1996|pages=170–173|isbn=978-0-7914-2705-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2rdnrfuOJ6sC&pg=PA170}}</ref>

Later, Shuka told a brief version of the ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' to the Kuru king [[Parikshit]], who was destined to die within few days due to a curse.

A place called [[Shukachari]] is believed to be the cave of Shuka, where he disappeared in cave stones as per local traditions. Shuka in Sanskrit means parrot and thus the name is derived from the large number of parrots found around the Shukachari hills. Shukachari literally means abode of parrots in the Sanskrit language.

==See also==
{{Commons category}}
* [[Bhagavad Gita]]
* [[Hindu mythology]]
* [[Krishna]]

==Further reading==

* ''Shuka''. In: Wilfried Huchzermeyer: ''Studies in the Mahabharata. Indian Culture, Dharma and Spirituality in the Great Epic.'' Karlsruhe 2018, {{ISBN|978-3-931172-32-9}}, pp. 164–178

==References==

{{reflist}}

{{Rishis of Hindu mythology}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suka}}
[[Category:Rishis]]
[[Category:Vaishnavite religious leaders]]
[[Category:Characters in the Bhagavata Purana]]

Shuka - Revision history

imported>Redtigerxyz: Adding local short description: "Hindu sage", overriding Wikidata description "Main Narrator of the scripture Shrimad Bhagavata Mahapurana" (Shortdesc helper)