Shukadeva is believed to have lived 300’years before this present era. He had a father named Veda Vyasa, was well-known author of the great epic Mahabharata and editor of the Vedas.
After working with Anand’s date and time birth, he came up with the code number of his book of life according to Shuka. “Today, as you hear this line being read for you, your body is in great pain. You suffer disease connected with planet Rohini...” (157)
The Shuka Nadi said that nobody could cure him from the disease. Yet it is curable. Anand can cure himself and he should not hope from external help. The help must come from within.
It is mentioned in the novel,”…if you must seek medical assistance, seek it from the doctor who treated you last. But even the doctor cannot heal you. Heal yourself— you can!” (157).
The messages that he has to turn into within him are also repeatedly mentioned in the novel, such as:
Go back... Do your work and do not expect understanding or help from people around you. Do not expect encouragement or assistance even from your own family members. They are evolving at their natural speed. Do not blame them. Do not be angry with them. Your spiritual growth is faster than theirs; it is not their mistake. Do not expect people to change for you. Do not expect any transformation from them, in them. You, who are changed and transformed already, must have compassion towards them. They do not have to understand you. You have to understand them. They are not changed yet; they have not been transformed yet. You have changed. You are transformed. (158-159)
The book is ended up with the blessings of Sage Shuka:
Go in peace. Fulfill your duties lovingly. Accomplish the Divine Task, which you are entrusted with and which is the very cause of this Last Sojourn of yours. Live consciously and nothing can ever distract you from the path. Shadow will not affect you. (159)
The impact of this meeting was really amazing. Anand was in blissful state for days after that. The body was deteriorating but his awareness was not affected at all. Shuka Nadi helped him regain his faith to himself.
2.2.3. Running Away to Buddhist Monastery
One day Anand visited a Buddhist Monastery to attend the Sunday evening services. The monk began to lead the visitors into meditation. In an instance, Anand forgot Sage Shake and his Nadi.
Thought of death came back to him again. His rendezvous with high state of consciousness, bliss, etc was over. His vision was one again blurred and life looked gloomy.
Anand began to ask himself, “Was I still afraid of death? Was there anything unknown about death that made me afraid of it?” (161). Questions like these would appear and disappear without any satisfactory answers.