Śaunaka

Śaunaka, “the descendant of Śunaka”

Śaunaka is the great ṛshi who presides over the twelve-year sattra (a long yajña session) at Naimishāraṇya. In the Kedāra Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, he is the chief questioner. He asks the sūta Romaharshaṇa to tell the sacred history of the Kedāra region and the deeds of Bhagavān Śiva. His questions begin the whole Kedāra Khaṇḍa, from the yajña of Daksha to the glory of Kedāranātha. He also appears in the Mahābhārata, where he counsels Yudhishṭhira and is the listener to whom the whole epic is told. In the Vāmana Purāṇa, his question at Naimiśāraṇya brings the river Sarasvatī to the ṛshis’ sattra.

The one who opens the Kedāra Khaṇḍa

The Kedāra Khaṇḍa begins at Naimishāraṇya, the eternal forest of the ṛshis. Śaunaka and a great gathering of ṛshis are there, in a twelve-year sattra yajña. The sūta Romaharshaṇa comes into the gathering. He is a direct disciple of Vyāsa and the foremost of the pauraṇikas (tellers of the Purāṇas) who are fit to tell the Mahāpurāṇas. Śaunaka sees that Romaharshaṇa is qualified. He wishes to hear the sacred account of the Kedāra region. He goes to Romaharshaṇa with respect and asks the questions that open the Khaṇḍa.

His part as questioner

Śaunaka’s first question sets the ground for the whole Khaṇḍa. He asks about the meaning of the Kedāra region: its tīrthas (sacred places), the greatness of its liṅgas (liṅga-māhātmya), and the sacred history of Bhagavān Śiva. He also asks about the events that led to Kedāranātha being set up as the supreme Śaiva tīrtha. Because of Śaunaka’s questions, the whole teaching of the Kedāra Khaṇḍa is kept and passed on.

Who he is

Śaunaka is known as a great kula-guru (head teacher of a family of students) of the Ṛgveda, and a ṛshi who is a householder of the highest kind. He is also the chief questioner in other Purāṇic works. In the Śrīmad Bhāgavata, his gathering at Naimishāraṇya is the frame for the telling by Sūta Gosvāmī. He is the presiding ṛshi of Naimishāraṇya in several Purāṇas.

Mahābhārata: advice to Yudhishṭhira

In the Vana Parva, Śaunaka came to the forest camp of the Pāṇḍavas soon after their exile began. He advised Yudhishṭhira on how to walk through hard times. He spoke on duḥkha (pain) and sukha (pleasure), on the yoga of drawing the mind away from objects, and on the value of vairāgya (detachment). He told how a wise man who sees that all pleasures and pains are passing is not shaken. He assured Yudhishṭhira that the exile, though painful, was a chance to gather tapas and dharma. (Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 2)

Mahābhārata: the listener at the end of the epic

Śaunaka presides over the gathering at Naimishāraṇya. This gathering is the outer frame of the whole Mahābhārata. The travelling Sauti (Ugraśravā) tells the whole epic to Śaunaka and the ṛshis who are gathered for his twelve-year sattra. Sauti had himself heard it at the sarpa-yajña (the snake yajña) of Janamejaya.

In the Svargārohaṇa Parva, this frame comes to its close. Sauti tells the gathering of Yudhishṭhira‘s ascent and of the heroes being taken back into their divine sources. He then tells the closing phala-stuti (praise of the fruit of hearing) and the Bhārata-Sāvitrī. These proclaim the fruit of hearing the Bhārata. For Śaunaka, as the fit listener, is spoken the highest blessing of the epic: freedom from pāpa (sin), and the reaching of Parabrahman through hearing with faith (śraddhā). (Mahābhārata, Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 5)

The Sarasvatī comes to Naimiśāraṇya

The Saro Māhātmya of the Vāmana Purāṇa, telling how the seven Sarasvatīs came to Kurukshetra, gives Śaunaka’s question as the start of the second. Śaunaka and the other great munis in Naimiśāraṇya asked Lomaharshaṇa, the best of the paurāṇikas: “Tell us the way by which we, walking the good path, may gain the fruit of yajña.” That great one bowed his head to the ṛshis and said: “The place where the river Sarasvatī is gives great yajña-phala (the fruit of yajña).”

Then the ṛshis, devoted to svādhyāya (the recitation of the Veda), gathered in one place and remembered the Sarasvatī. As soon as those keeping the sattra meditated on her, the Sarasvatī came to their place of yajña for their bathing. Later, when Maṅkaṇa Maharshi meditated on her, this Sarasvatī, named Kāñcanākshī, came from Naimisha to Kurukshetra. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 16)

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 1
• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 2
• Mahābhārata, Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 5
• Śrīmad Bhāgavata
• Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 16