About
Suka — Prince of Gandhara, Brother of Shakuni
Suka · Son of Subala · Prince of Gandhara
Suka was a prince of Gandhara, son of King Subala and younger brother of Shakuni and Gandhari. He is named in the Mahabharata (Bhishma Parva, Chapter 89) as the last of the six younger brothers of Shakuni who fought against Iravan on the eighth day of the Kurukshetra War and was among the five killed in that encounter. His attestation is confined to this single passage. He is to be distinguished from the celebrated sage Shuka — son of Vyasa and narrator of the Bhagavata Purana — who shares only a name with this Gandhara prince.
✦ The Name
The name Suka means parrot in Sanskrit — a bird associated in the Indian tradition with eloquence, beauty, memory, and the recitation of sacred knowledge. As a royal name it may carry connotations of learning and verbal skill. The most famous bearer of this name in the Puranic tradition is Shuka, the son of the sage Vyasa, who narrated the entire Bhagavata Purana to King Parikshit; the Gandhara prince Suka shares only the name and has no connection to that figure.
✦ Lineage
- Father: Subala, king of Gandhara, descendant of Turvasu in the Lunar Dynasty
- Mother: Sudharma, queen of Gandhara
- Sister: Gandhari, queen of Hastinapura and mother of the hundred Kauravas
- Brothers: Shakuni, Achala, Vrishaka, Gaya, Gavaksha, Vrishava, Charmavat, Arjava, and Vrihadvala
✦ Role in the Kurukshetra War and Death
Suka fought alongside his five brothers against Iravan on the eighth day of the Kurukshetra War. He was among the five brothers killed by Iravan in the sword fight that concluded the encounter, with Vrishava alone escaping. No further episodes involving Suka are recorded in the primary sources.
✦ References
- Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva, Chapter 89, verse 12: Primary source naming Suka as the last of the six younger brothers of Shakuni who fought and were killed by Iravan on Day 8