Srimadh Bagawatham - Sage Sukacharyar

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/04/srimadh-bagawatham-sage-romaharshana.html

Sukacharyar the son of Sage Veda Vyasa was an enlightened soul. He saw the Lord in everyone and everything. He treated everyone equally and never discriminated against anyone. At the age of sixteen, Sukacharyar left home. Sage Veda Vyasar felt very sad not because his son had left home but because he lost the company of a Bagawatha.

Sage Veda Vyasar went after his son and called out to Sukacharyar. To the surprise of Sage Veda Vyasar when he called Sukacharyar, all the trees, birds and animals replied asking Veda Vyasar, ‘father did you call us?’

Sukacharyar had treated everyone and everything equally that he didn’t even differentiate his surroundings from himself; thus, the trees and animals replied to Sukacharyar.

Veda Vyasar soon came upon a pond. He noticed his son pass along the shore of the pond where some women were bathing. Even when Sukacharyar passed along the shore, the women did not cover themselves. Veda Vyasar followed Sukacharyar trying to catch up with him. As he neared the shore, the women covered themselves in a hurry. Veda Vyasar was surprised by their behaviour.

‘Ladies why are you covering yourselves when you see an old man like myself but didn’t cover yourself when my sixteen year old son passed along this shore?’

‘Why is it that you are asking us this question and not him?’ asked a lady. ‘You notice us as women but he only sees the Antaryami residing in us. He sees no difference between us and himself!’

Veda Vyasar was no ordinary sage. He incarnated in the lineage of sage Vasishta and is a partial expansion of the Lord Himself. The above narrative is given to illustrate the character of Sukacharyar and is in no way meant to show Veda Vyasar in a bad light. The narrative is meant to show the greatness of Sukacharyar.

Sukacharyar never stops at any place for more than the time taken to milk a small jug of milk from a cow. Hence all the sages and Parikshit were surprised when Sukacharyar arrived at the banks of river Ganges.

Parikshit had only seven days left to live and he wished to learn about that one thing by knowing which everything could be known, by seeing which everything is seen and by hearing about which everything is heard. Sukacharyar stopped at the place to everyone’s surprise for seven days to instruct Srimadh Bagawatham to Parikshit. Srimadh Bagawatham is like a tasty fruit which contains the extract of the nectar derived from Vedas. The tastiest fruit in an orchard is always pecked by parrots. Hence there is a demand for fruits pecked by parrots as the fruit will definitely be sweeter tasting. Srimadh Bagawatham is a fruit and Sukacharyar is often represented as a parrot. Srimadh Bagawatham is hence the best fruit and the best amongst the puranam because it has been tasted by the parrot called Sukacharyar. Sukacharyar tasted this divine fruit and then shared with us by instructing the Bagawatham to Parikshit Maharaja.

Sukacharyar stopped because he knew that Parikshit was the Lord’s property and he wanted to make sure that the Lord got back his property.

There was once a rich merchant. He left to foreign lands on business leaving his pregnant wife at his home town. Many years passed and the merchant was so busy that he did not find time to visit his wife and son.

The son grew up to be a young man and became a merchant as well. One day the son and the father met at a shipyard but they did not know each other as they had never met each other. The son and the father argued with each other about who should start loading the goods first. The argument became heated and they grabbed hold of a sword to fight with each other. At that moment an old man arrived at the scene. The old man knew both the father and the son as he was from the same home town.

‘Stop fighting! Throw your sword down. That man is your father!’ cried the old man.

The father and the son dropped their sword. They embraced each other. The father apologized for not taking the time to come and see the son while he was growing up. They started to help each other with the task of loading the ship as now the son’s property also belonged to the father and vice versa.

The son represents the jeevatma, the father Paramatma and the old man is the Acharyan. We need the guidance of an Acharyan to bring us close to our Lord. Sukacharyar undertook the role of the Acharyan in order to introduce Parikshit to his father The Lord.

 

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/04/srimadh-bagawatham-story-of-katwangan.html