The king was gazing with devoted admiration at the face of Suka, while he was speaking to him. Suddenly, he raised his head and addressed the young sage thus: "Lord! I have a doubt pestering me. Remove it and give peace to my heart. I was laying it before this assembly when you came. You can, I know, solve that doubt, in a trice. It must be child's play for you." Suka interrupted him and said, "Parikshith! The reason I have come to you is to solve this doubt that is pestering you. You can ask me what you have in mind. I shall resolve your doubt and grant you satisfaction". When the great Suka uttered these words, the sages who had gathered, exclaimed, "What great fortune!" "Blessed indeed!" and clapped their hands in joy so loud that the acclamation reached the sky.

The king spoke humbly and with evident anxiety, "Lord! What should a person facing death and who is aware of the oncoming of the end, engage himself in? What should his mind dwell upon? After succumbing to death, he should not be born again. When that is his prayer, how should he spend the days at his disposal? This is the problem that is bothering me at present. What is my highest duty?" the King pleaded again and again for guidance.

Suka answered: "King! Withdraw your mind from worldly thoughts and fix it on Hari, the Lord who charms all hearts. I shall instruct you in the wisdom of the divine, the Bhagavathathatwa. Listen to it with all your heart; there is no activity holier than that. There can be no greater spiritual exercise, or discipline or vow. The human body is a worthy boat; the story of Hari is the rudder; this world of change, this constant flow, this Samsar, is the sea. Hari is the boatman! Today, this sacred equipment is available for you."

"The problem you have raised is not concerned with just one individual, the whole world is concerned with it, and its solution. It is the most vital of all problems that deserves inquiry. The Atma principle is the panacea for all ills. That is the ultimate truth. No one can escape it. To establish oneself in that faith during the final days is the duty of living beings. It is on this basis that status in the next birth is determined. So, the question that you asked and the doubt that you raised, are matters of great moment for the welfare of the whole world. The answer is not for you alone, Listen."