Vyasa's request¹⁰

The great sage Vyasa once went to the Lord Shiva and prayed to him, “Lord Shiva, you are unparalleled among the Trinity. Your Compassion is infinite, your Power is infinite, in every way you are infinite. I have come to you with my heart’s prayer: I would like you to initiate my son, Shuka. It is high time for him to be initiated and I know for sure that if you initiate him, then my son and I will be supremely blessed. So do fulfil my heart’s desire.”

Lord Shiva said, “I can and I shall fulfil your desire. But let me tell you one thing. If I initiate your son, do you not think that he will leave the house and roam along the street, praying, chanting and meditating? You will lose him.”

The father said, “I know there is every possibility that I will lose my son. But I must do my duty. When it is time for the son to be invested with the sacred thread, the father must do his duty, even at the risk of losing his son.

“But, my Lord, you are all-where. After being initiated by you, if my son roams around the world chanting and meditating on the supreme glory of the Absolute Supreme, how can I lose him or miss him? If he is meditating on the omnipresent and omniscient Lord, then I will never miss him. That much wisdom you have already given me, my Lord.”

Lord Shiva gave the father a broad smile and blessed him: “I am coming to your house to initiate your son. I assure you, he will be the world’s greatest God-knower at such a tender age. He has already mastered all the scriptures. Now, from my blessings and initiation, he will gain mastery over his earthly life and become inseparably one with the life of the immortals.”