The Discussion Between Jada Bharata and King Rahugana

Verse 1 (bhagavata.5.10.1)

श्रीशुक उवाच अथ सिन्धुसौवीरपते रहूगणस्य व्रजत इक्षुमत्यास्तटे तत्कुलपतिना शिबिकावाहपुरुषान्वेषणसमये दैवेनोपसादितः स द्विजवर उपलब्ध एष पीवा युवा संहननाङ्गो गोखरवद्धुरं वोढुमलमिति पूर्वविष्टिगृहीतैः सह गृहीतः प्रसभमतदर्ह उवाह शिबिकां स महानुभावः ॥ १ ॥

śrī-śuka uvāca atha sindhu-sauvīra-pate rahūgaṇasya vrajata ikṣumatyās taṭe tat-kula-patinā śibikā-vāha-puruṣānveṣaṇa-samaye daivenopasāditaḥ sa dvija-vara upalabdha eṣa pīvā yuvā saṁhananāṅgo go-kharavad dhuraṁ voḍhum alam iti pūrva-viṣṭi-gṛhītaiḥ saha gṛhītaḥ prasabham atad-arha uvāha śibikāṁ sa mahānubhāvaḥ.

Shri Shuka continued: Now, as Rahugana, lord of Sindhu and Sauvira, was journeying along the bank of the river Ikshumati, his palanquin-bearers, at the moment when their leader was searching for another carrier, happened by chance upon this foremost of brahmanas. Seeing that he was well-built, young and sturdy of limb, fit to bear a yoke like a bull or an ass, they seized him along with those already engaged for the earlier relay and forced him, though wholly unfit for it, to carry the palanquin — this great soul.

Verse 2 (bhagavata.5.10.2)

यदा हि द्विजवरस्येषुमात्रावलोकानुगतेर्न समाहिता पुरुषगतिस्तदा विषमगतां स्वशिबिकां रहूगण उपधार्य पुरुषानधिवहत आह हे वोढारः साध्वतिक्रमत किमिति विषममुह्यते यानमिति ॥ २ ॥

yadā hi dvija-varasyeṣu-mātrāvalokānugater na samāhitā puruṣa-gatis tadā viṣama-gatāṁ sva-śibikāṁ rahūgaṇa upadhārya puruṣān adhivahata āha he voḍhāraḥ sādhv atikramata kim iti viṣamam uhyate yānam iti.

Now, because that foremost of brahmanas kept glancing carefully at the ground within the space of a mere arrow's throw before each step, his pace was not steady, and so the palanquin began to move unevenly. Noticing this, Rahugana said to the bearers, 'O carriers, proceed properly! Why is this vehicle being made to sway so unevenly?'

Verse 3 (bhagavata.5.10.3)

अथ त ईश्वरवचः सोपालम्भमुपाकर्ण्योपायतुरीयाच्छङ्कितमनसस्तं विज्ञापयांबभूवुः ॥ ३ ॥

atha ta īśvara-vacaḥ sopālambham upākarṇyopāya-turīyāc chaṅkita-manasas taṁ vijñāpayāṁ babhūvuḥ.

Hearing their master's words mingled with reproach, the bearers, their minds uneasy about how to explain the fourth man among them, addressed him as follows.

Verse 4 (bhagavata.5.10.4)

न वयं नरदेव प्रमत्ता भवन्नियमानुपथाः साध्वेव वहामः । अयमधुनैव नियुक्तोऽपि न द्रुतं व्रजति नानेन सह वोढुमु ह वयं पारयाम इति ॥ ४ ॥

na vayaṁ nara-deva pramattā bhavan-niyamānupathāḥ sādhv eva vahāmaḥ. ayam adhunaiva niyukto ’pi na drutaṁ vrajati nānena saha voḍhum u ha vayaṁ pārayāma iti.

'O lord of men, we are not being careless; we are carrying you exactly as you have ordered. It is only this man, engaged just now, who does not keep pace with the rest; with him among us we simply cannot carry the palanquin evenly.'

Verse 5 (bhagavata.5.10.5)

सांसर्गिको दोष एव नूनमेकस्यापि सर्वेषां सांसर्गिकाणां भवितुमर्हतीति निश्चित्य निशम्य कृपणवचो राजा रहूगण उपासितवृद्धोऽपि निसर्गेण बलात्कृत ईषदुत्थितमन्युरविस्पष्टब्रह्मतेजसं जातवेदसमिव रजसाऽऽवृतमतिराह ॥ ५ ॥

sāṁsargiko doṣa eva nūnam ekasyāpi sarveṣāṁ sāṁsargikāṇāṁ bhavitum arhatīti niścitya niśamya kṛpaṇa-vaco rājā rahūgaṇa upāsita-vṛddho ’pi nisargeṇa balāt kṛta īṣad-utthita-manyur avispaṣṭa-brahma-tejasaṁ jāta-vedasam iva rajasāvṛta-matir āha.

Concluding that this must simply be the fault of bad company — that the fault of one alone was surely spreading to all his companions — King Rahugana, on hearing these plaintive words, though himself well-schooled by service to his elders, was overpowered, as if by nature, by a rush of anger; and with his understanding thus lightly clouded by passion, he addressed him — this man whose brahminical radiance was not outwardly visible, like a fire banked in ashes.

Verse 6 (bhagavata.5.10.6)

अहो कष्टं भ्रातर्व्यक्तमुरुपरिश्रान्तो दीर्घमध्वानमेक एव ऊहिवान् सुचिरं नातिपीवा न संहननाङ्गो जरसा चोपद्रुतो भवान् सखे नो एवापर एते सङ्घट्टिन इति बहुविप्रलब्धोऽप्यविद्यया रचितद्रव्यगुणकर्माशयस्वचरमकलेवरेऽवस्तुनि संस्थानविशेषेऽहं ममेत्यनध्यारोपितमिथ्याप्रत्ययो ब्रह्मभूतस्तूष्णीं शिबिकां पूर्ववदुवाह ॥ ६ ॥

aho kaṣṭaṁ bhrātar vyaktam uru-pariśrānto dīrgham adhvānam eka eva ūhivān suciraṁ nāti-pīvā na saṁhananāṅgo jarasā copadruto bhavān sakhe no evāpara ete saṅghaṭṭina iti bahu-vipralabdho ’py avidyayā racita-dravya-guṇa-karmāśaya-sva-carama-kalevare ’vastuni saṁsthāna-viśeṣe ’haṁ mamety anadhyāropita-mithyā-pratyayo brahma-bhūtas tūṣṇīṁ śibikāṁ pūrvavad uvāha.

'Ah, what trouble, brother! You are clearly quite exhausted, having carried this alone for so long over so great a distance; you are not very stout nor firmly built, and old age too seems to weigh upon you. My friend, will your fellow bearers not help you?' Thus rebuked at length — though he, who had truly become one with Brahman, held no false notion of 'I' and 'mine' regarding this unreal, particular configuration of matter and its qualities and deeds, born of ignorance — he silently carried the palanquin on as before.

Verse 7 (bhagavata.5.10.7)

अथ पुनः स्वशिबिकायां विषमगतायां प्रकुपित उवाच रहूगणः किमिदमरे त्वं जीवन्मृतो मां कदर्थीकृत्य भर्तृशासनमतिचरसि प्रमत्तस्य च ते करोमि चिकित्सां दण्डपाणिरिव जनताया यथा प्रकृतिं स्वां भजिष्यस इति ॥ ७ ॥

atha punaḥ sva-śibikāyāṁ viṣama-gatāyāṁ prakupita uvāca rahūgaṇaḥ kim idam are tvaṁ jīvan-mṛto māṁ kadarthī-kṛtya bhartṛ-śāsanam aticarasi pramattasya ca te karomi cikitsāṁ daṇḍa-pāṇir iva janatāyā yathā prakṛtiṁ svāṁ bhajiṣyasa iti.

Then again, seeing his own palanquin moving unevenly, Rahugana said in fury, 'What is this, you fool? Though alive, you act as though dead; you make light of me and defy your master's command! For this negligence I shall now administer to you the proper correction — as one who holds the rod does to the common folk — until you come back to your senses.'

Verse 8 (bhagavata.5.10.8)

एवं बह्वबद्धमपि भाषमाणं नरदेवाभिमानं रजसा तमसानुविद्धेन मदेन तिरस्कृताशेषभगवत्प्रियनिकेतं पण्डितमानिनं स भगवान् ब्राह्मणो ब्रह्मभूतसर्वभूतसुहृदात्मा योगेश्वरचर्यायां नातिव्युत्पन्नमतिं स्मयमान इव विगतस्मय इदमाह ॥ ८ ॥

evaṁ bahv abaddham api bhāṣamāṇaṁ nara-devābhimānaṁ rajasā tamasānuviddhena madena tiraskṛtāśeṣa-bhagavat-priya-niketaṁ paṇḍita-māninaṁ sa bhagavān brāhmaṇo brahma-bhūta-sarva-bhūta-suhṛd-ātmā yogeśvara-caryāyāṁ nāti-vyutpanna-matiṁ smayamāna iva vigata-smaya idam āha.

Though thus scolded at length with words that contradicted themselves — the king, proud in his sense of being 'lord of men,' his mind pierced through by passion mingled with ignorance, in his pride disregarding one who was the very dwelling place of the Lord's entire glory, all the while considering himself learned — that great brahmana, who had become one with Brahman, the friend and very self of every being, well versed in the ways of the masters of yoga, though he took little account of the king's understanding, replied, as if smiling, though wholly free of any pride, in these words.

Verse 9 (bhagavata.5.10.9)

ब्राह्मण उवाच त्वयोदितं व्यक्तमविप्रलब्धं भर्तुः स मे स्याद्यदि वीर भारः । गन्तुर्यदि स्यादधिगम्यमध्वा पीवेति राशौ न विदां प्रवादः ॥ ९ ॥

brāhmaṇa uvāca tvayoditaṁ vyaktam avipralabdhaṁ bhartuḥ sa me syād yadi vīra bhāraḥ gantur yadi syād adhigamyam adhvā pīveti rāśau na vidāṁ pravādaḥ

The brahmana said: O hero, whatever you have spoken is indeed quite true, and no mockery at all — provided this burden truly belongs to that master of mine [the self]. And if it is the walker who must travel this road, then to speak of 'fatness' in a mere heap of matter is not, after all, the speech of the wise.

Verse 10 (bhagavata.5.10.10)

स्थौल्यं कार्श्यं व्याधय आधयश्च क्षुत्तृड् भयं कलिरिच्छा जरा च । निद्रा रतिर्मन्युरहंमदः शुचो देहेन जातस्य हि मे न सन्ति ॥ १० ॥

sthaulyaṁ kārśyaṁ vyādhaya ādhayaś ca kṣut tṛḍ bhayaṁ kalir icchā jarā ca nidrā ratir manyur ahaṁ madaḥ śuco dehena jātasya hi me na santi

'Fatness and thinness, disease and mental affliction, hunger and thirst, fear, strife, desire, old age, sleep, attachment, anger, false pride and grief — for me, who only appear to be born through this body, none of these truly exist.'

Verse 11 (bhagavata.5.10.11)

जीवन्मृतत्वं नियमेन राजन् आद्यन्तवद्यद्विकृतस्य दृष्टम् । स्वस्वाम्यभावो ध्रुव ईड्य यत्र तर्ह्युच्यतेऽसौ विधिकृत्ययोगः ॥ ११ ॥

jīvan-mṛtatvaṁ niyamena rājan ādyantavad yad vikṛtasya dṛṣṭam sva-svāmya-bhāvo dhruva īḍya yatra tarhy ucyate ’sau vidhikṛtya-yogaḥ

'O King, this state of "living yet dead" is, as a rule, observed of anything subject to change, since whatever is so subject has a beginning and an end. And wherever the relation of owned and owner — O worthy one — is taken to be permanent, that, in truth, is called nothing more than an arrangement fashioned by circumstance.'

Verse 12 (bhagavata.5.10.12)

विशेषबुद्धेर्विवरं मनाक् च पश्याम यन्न व्यवहारतोऽन्यत् । क ईश्वरस्तत्र किमीशितव्यं तथापि राजन् करवाम किं ते ॥ १२ ॥

viśeṣa-buddher vivaraṁ manāk ca paśyāma yan na vyavahārato ’nyat ka īśvaras tatra kim īśitavyaṁ tathāpi rājan karavāma kiṁ te

'We see that this "distinction" you draw is but a slight gap, nothing apart from ordinary convention — there is no other cause behind it. Who, then, is truly master there, and what is there to command? Even so, O King, tell us: what can we do for you?'

Verse 13 (bhagavata.5.10.13)

उन्मत्तमत्तजडवत्स्वसंस्थां गतस्य मे वीर चिकित्सितेन । अर्थः कियान् भवता शिक्षितेन स्तब्धप्रमत्तस्य च पिष्टपेषः ॥ १३ ॥

unmatta-matta-jaḍavat sva-saṁsthāṁ gatasya me vīra cikitsitena arthaḥ kiyān bhavatā śikṣitena stabdha-pramattasya ca piṣṭapeṣaḥ

'O hero, I have settled entirely into my own true nature, though I seem to the world like a madman, a drunkard, or a fool — what benefit, then, could there be for you in the correction you propose? To instruct one who is already senseless and set in his ways is only to grind flour that has already been ground.'

Verse 14 (bhagavata.5.10.14)

श्रीशुक उवाच एतावदनुवादपरिभाषया प्रत्युदीर्य मुनिवर उपशमशील उपरतानात्म्यनिमित्त उपभोगेन कर्मारब्धं व्यपनयन् राजयानमपि तथोवाह ॥ १४ ॥

śrī-śuka uvāca etāvad anuvāda-paribhāṣayā pratyudīrya muni-vara upaśama-śīla uparatānātmya-nimitta upabhogena karmārabdhaṁ vyapanayan rāja-yānam api tathovāha.

Shri Shuka said: Having replied in this way, framing his words merely as an echo of the king's own terms, that foremost of sages, peaceful by nature and no longer harboring any cause for false identification with the body, working off through simple endurance the karma already set in motion, carried the king's palanquin on just as before.

Verse 15 (bhagavata.5.10.15)

स चापि पाण्डवेय सिन्धुसौवीरपतिस्तत्त्वजिज्ञासायां सम्यक्श्रद्धयाधिकृताधिकारस्तद्धृदयग्रन्थिमोचनं द्विजवच आश्रुत्य बहुयोगग्रन्थसम्मतं त्वरयावरुह्य शिरसा पादमूलमुपसृतः क्षमापयन् विगतनृपदेवस्मय उवाच ॥ १५ ॥

sa cāpi pāṇḍaveya sindhu-sauvīra-patis tattva-jijñāsāyāṁ samyak-śraddhayādhikṛtādhikāras tad dhṛdaya-granthi-mocanaṁ dvija-vaca āśrutya bahu-yoga-grantha-sammataṁ tvarayāvaruhya śirasā pāda-mūlam upasṛtaḥ kṣamāpayan vigata-nṛpa-deva-smaya uvāca.

Shri Shuka continued: O best of the Pandu line, that lord of Sindhu and Sauvira too, being one who through genuine faith had rightly earned the fitness to inquire into truth, on hearing from the brahmana those words — words endorsed by the many scriptures of yoga, which loosen the very knot of the heart — quickly stepped down from the palanquin, came to him, and placed his head at his feet; and begging forgiveness, his pride as a king now entirely gone, he spoke as follows.

Verse 16 (bhagavata.5.10.16)

कस्त्वं निगूढश्चरसि द्विजानां बिभर्षि सूत्रं कतमोऽवधूतः । कस्यासि कुत्रत्य इहापि कस्मात् क्षेमाय नश्चेदसि नोत शुक्लः ॥ १६ ॥

kas tvaṁ nigūḍhaś carasi dvijānāṁ bibharṣi sūtraṁ katamo ’vadhūtaḥ kasyāsi kutratya ihāpi kasmāt kṣemāya naś ced asi nota śuklaḥ

'Who are you, moving among the twice-born, so well concealed? You wear the sacred thread — of what order of wandering, liberated soul are you? Whose disciple are you, and from where do you come? And why are you here — have you come for our welfare, or are you simply pure of your own accord?'

Verse 17 (bhagavata.5.10.17)

नाहं विशङ्के सुरराजवज्रा- न्न त्र्यक्षशूलान्न यमस्य दण्डात् । नाग्न्यर्कसोमानिलवित्तपास्त्रा- च्छङ्के भृशं ब्रह्मकुलावमानात् ॥ १७ ॥

nāhaṁ viśaṅke sura-rāja-vajrān na tryakṣa-śūlān na yamasya daṇḍāt nāgny-arka-somānila-vittapāstrāc chaṅke bhṛśaṁ brahma-kulāvamānāt

'I am not so afraid of the thunderbolt of the king of the gods, nor of the trident of the three-eyed Lord, nor of the rod of Yama, nor of fire, sun, moon, wind or the weapon of Kuvera, as I am intensely afraid of having dishonored the community of brahmanas.'

Verse 18 (bhagavata.5.10.18)

तद्ब्रूह्यसङ्गो जडवन्निगूढ- विज्ञानवीर्यो विचरस्यपारः । वचांसि योगग्रथितानि साधो न नः क्षमन्ते मनसापि भेत्तुम् ॥ १८ ॥

tad brūhy asaṅgo jaḍavan nigūḍha- vijñāna-vīryo vicarasy apāraḥ vacāṁsi yoga-grathitāni sādho na naḥ kṣamante manasāpi bhettum

'Please tell me who you are — free of all attachment, seemingly dull, yet with your knowledge and power deeply hidden, wandering without any bound. O saintly one, your words, woven through with the insight of yoga, we are unable to fathom even with the mind.'

Verse 19 (bhagavata.5.10.19)

अहं च योगेश्वरमात्मतत्त्व- विदां मुनीनां परमं गुरुं वै । प्रष्टुं प्रवृत्तः किमिहारणं तत् साक्षाद्धरिं ज्ञानकलावतीर्णम् ॥ १९ ॥

ahaṁ ca yogeśvaram ātma-tattva- vidāṁ munīnāṁ paramaṁ guruṁ vai praṣṭuṁ pravṛttaḥ kim ihāraṇaṁ tat sākṣād dhariṁ jñāna-kalāvatīrṇam

'And it is you I have set out to question — the supreme master of yoga, the foremost guru among sages who know the truth of the self — as to what, indeed, is the true refuge in this world; for you are none other than Hari Himself, directly descended in a portion of His knowledge.'

Verse 20 (bhagavata.5.10.20)

स वै भवाँल्लोकनिरीक्षणार्थ- मव्यक्तलिङ्गो विचरत्यपिस्वित् । योगेश्वराणां गतिमन्धबुद्धिः कथं विचक्षीत गृहानुबन्धः ॥ २० ॥

sa vai bhavāḻ loka-nirīkṣaṇārtham avyakta-liṅgo vicaraty api svit yogeśvarāṇāṁ gatim andha-buddhiḥ kathaṁ vicakṣīta gṛhānubandhaḥ

'Is it not that you go about with your true nature hidden, precisely so as to observe this world? How, then, could one as blind of understanding as I, bound as I am to the ties of household life, ever discern the way of the masters of yoga?'

Verse 21 (bhagavata.5.10.21)

दृष्टः श्रमः कर्मत आत्मनो वै भर्तुर्गन्तुर्भवतश्चानुमन्ये । यथासतोदानयनाद्यभावात् समूल इष्टो व्यवहारमार्गः ॥ २१ ॥

dṛṣṭaḥ śramaḥ karmata ātmano vai bhartur gantur bhavataś cānumanye yathāsatodānayanādy-abhāvāt samūla iṣṭo vyavahāra-mārgaḥ

'Fatigue, it seems, does belong to the self after all — whether in the one who bears the load or the one who is carried; this much I will grant, be it yours or mine. For just as the fetching of a pot and such dealings are accepted as valid, though the pot itself is not ultimately real, so too is the whole path of worldly transaction held to be valid, root and branch.'

Verse 22 (bhagavata.5.10.22)

स्थाल्यग्नितापात्पयसोऽभिताप- स्तत्तापतस्तण्डुलगर्भरन्धिः । देहेन्द्रियास्वाशयसन्निकर्षात् तत्संसृतिः पुरुषस्यानुरोधात् ॥ २२ ॥

sthāly-agni-tāpāt payaso ’bhitāpas tat-tāpatas taṇḍula-garbha-randhiḥ dehendriyāsvāśaya-sannikarṣāt tat-saṁsṛtiḥ puruṣasyānurodhāt

'From the fire beneath the pot the milk is heated; from that heat the rice within is in turn cooked. Just so, through the contact of body, senses, mind and the innermost seat of impressions, the self's experience of that fatigue arises — compelled by the very nature of individual selfhood.'

Verse 23 (bhagavata.5.10.23)

शास्ताभिगोप्ता नृपतिः प्रजानांयः किङ्करो वै न पिनष्टि पिष्टम् । स्वधर्ममाराधनमच्युतस्ययदीहमानो विजहात्यघौघम् ॥ २३ ॥

śāstābhigoptā nṛpatiḥ prajānāṁ yaḥ kiṅkaro vai na pinaṣṭi piṣṭam sva-dharmam ārādhanam acyutasya yad īhamāno vijahāty aghaugham

'The king is the ruler and protector of his subjects, and whoever serves as his instrument does not merely grind what is already ground — for one who, even under compulsion, performs the duty allotted to him as an act of worship to the Infallible Lord, thereby casts off the whole mass of his sins.'

Verse 24 (bhagavata.5.10.24)

तन्मे भवान्नरदेवाभिमान-मदेन तुच्छीकृतसत्तमस्य । कृषीष्ट मैत्रीदृशमार्तबन्धोयथा तरे सदवध्यानमंहः ॥ २४ ॥

tan me bhavān nara-devābhimāna- madena tucchīkṛta-sattamasya kṛṣīṣṭa maitrī-dṛśam ārta-bandho yathā tare sad-avadhyānam aṁhaḥ

'Therefore, though I — puffed up with the pride of thinking myself "lord of men" — have made light of you, the very best of the great, may you now extend to me the glance of friendship, O friend of the afflicted, so that I may cross over this sin, which is not to be taken lightly.'

Verse 25 (bhagavata.5.10.25)

न विक्रिया विश्वसुहृत्सखस्यसाम्येन वीताभिमतेस्तवापि । महद्विमानात् स्वकृताद्धि मादृङ्नङ्क्ष्यत्यदूरादपि शूलपाणिः ॥ २५ ॥

na vikriyā viśva-suhṛt-sakhasya sāmyena vītābhimates tavāpi mahad-vimānāt sva-kṛtād dhi mādṛṅ naṅkṣyaty adūrād api śūlapāṇiḥ

'There can be no disturbance in you, friend and well-wisher of the whole universe, who through your very equanimity have cast off all notion of "mine" and "another's" — not even from this grave insult of mine. But one like me, on account of an offense committed of his own will against the great, is bound to perish before long — even were he as mighty as Shiva, the wielder of the trident himself.'