Shloka 20
दर्शयित्वा प्रभावं स्वं॑ ब्रह्मभूतो5$भवत् तदा । उधर शुकदेव वायुसे आकाशगामिनी ऊर्ध्वगतिका आश्रय ले अपना प्रभाव दिखाकर तत्काल ब्रह्मीभूत हो गये ।। महायोगगतिं त्वन्यां व्यासोत्थाय महातपा:,महातपस्वी व्यासजी दूसरी महायोगसम्बन्धिनी गतिका अवलम्बन करके ऊपरको उठे और पलक मारते-मारते उस स्थानपर जा पहुँचे, जहाँसे उन पर्वत-शिखरोंको दो भागोंमें विदीर्ण करके शुकदेवजी आगे बढ़े थे। वह स्थान शुकाभिपतनके नामसे प्रसिद्ध हो गया था। उन्होंने उस स्थानको देखा
darśayitvā prabhāvaṃ svaṃ brahmabhūto 'bhavat tadā | mahāyogagatiṃ tv anyāṃ vyāsa utthāya mahātapāḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Having revealed his own extraordinary power, he at once became one with Brahman. Then the great ascetic Vyāsa, rising up and adopting another supreme yogic mode of movement, ascended and swiftly reached the very place from which Śuka had earlier advanced—cleaving the mountain-peaks as he went. The spot became renowned as the ‘Śukābhipatana,’ and Vyāsa beheld it.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ideal of liberation through realization: Shuka, after manifesting spiritual potency, becomes ‘brahmabhūta’—established in Brahman—signifying transcendence beyond ordinary identity. It also presents yogic mastery as subordinate to the higher goal of Brahman-realization.
Shuka departs in a transcendent state after displaying his power. Vyasa, his father and a great ascetic, follows by adopting a supreme yogic mode of movement, ascending rapidly to the place associated with Shuka’s passage (remembered as Śukābhipatana), and observes that renowned spot.