The Supreme Character of Jada Bharata

Verse 1 (bhagavata.5.9.1)

श्रीशुक उवाच अथ कस्यचिद् द्विजवरस्याङ्गिरःप्रवरस्य शमदमतपःस्वाध्यायाध्ययनत्यागसन्तोषतितिक्षाप्रश्रयविद्यानसूयात्मज्ञानानन्दयुक्तस्यात्मसदृशश्रुतशीलाचाररूपौदार्यगुणा नव सोदर्या अङ्गजा बभूवुर्मिथुनं च यवीयस्यां भार्यायाम् ॥ १ ॥

śrī-śuka uvāca atha kasyacid dvija-varasyāṅgiraḥ-pravarasya śama-dama-tapaḥ-svādhyāyādhyayana-tyāga-santoṣa-titikṣā-praśraya-vidyānasūyātma-jñānānanda-yuktasyātma-sadṛśa-śruta-śīlācāra-rūpaudārya-guṇā nava sodaryā aṅgajā babhūvur mithunaṁ ca yavīyasyāṁ bhāryāyām.

Shri Shuka said: Thereafter, there was a certain foremost brahmana of the line of Angira, who was endowed with control of mind and senses, austerity, Vedic recitation and study, renunciation, contentment, forbearance, humility, learning and freedom from envy, and who possessed self-knowledge and bliss — one whose conduct, learning, character, bearing and nobility matched his own worth. By his elder wife were born nine sons, all born of the same womb and sharing his qualities, and by his younger wife a twin was born — a son and a daughter.

Verse 2 (bhagavata.5.9.2)

यस्तु तत्र पुमांस्तं परमभागवतं राजर्षिप्रवरं भरतमुत्सृष्टमृगशरीरं चरमशरीरेण विप्रत्वं गतमाहुः ॥ २ ॥

yas tu tatra pumāṁs taṁ parama-bhāgavataṁ rājarṣi-pravaraṁ bharatam utsṛṣṭa-mṛga-śarīraṁ carama-śarīreṇa vipratvaṁ gatam āhuḥ.

The male child born of that union, they say, was none other than the supreme devotee and foremost among saintly kings — Bharata — who, having given up the body of a deer, attained brahminhood in this, his final body.

Verse 3 (bhagavata.5.9.3)

तत्रापि स्वजनसङ्गाच्च भृशमुद्विजमानो भगवतः कर्मबन्धविध्वंसनश्रवणस्मरणगुणविवरणचरणारविन्दयुगलं मनसा विदधदात्मनः प्रतिघातमाशङ्कमानो भगवदनुग्रहेणानुस्मृतस्वपूर्वजन्मावलिरात्मानमुन्मत्तजडान्धबधिरस्वरूपेण दर्शयामास लोकस्य ॥ ३ ॥

tatrāpi svajana-saṅgāc ca bhṛśam udvijamāno bhagavataḥ karma-bandha-vidhvaṁsana-śravaṇa-smaraṇa-guṇa-vivaraṇa-caraṇāravinda-yugalaṁ manasā vidadhad ātmanaḥ pratighātam āśaṅkamāno bhagavad-anugraheṇānusmṛta-sva-pūrva-janmāvalir ātmānam unmatta-jaḍāndha-badhira-svarūpeṇa darśayām āsa lokasya.

Even there, being greatly disturbed by the company of his own kinsmen, he fixed his mind upon the pair of lotus feet of Bhagavan — feet whose glory, when heard of, remembered and described, destroys the bondage of fruitive action — and fearing any obstacle to this remembrance, he who by the Lord's grace recalled the whole sequence of his own former births showed himself to the world in the guise of one mad, dull, blind and deaf.

Verse 4 (bhagavata.5.9.4)

तस्यापि ह वा आत्मजस्य विप्रः पुत्रस्नेहानुबद्धमना आसमावर्तनात्संस्कारान् यथोपदेशं विदधान उपनीतस्य च पुनः शौचाचमनादीन् कर्मनियमाननभिप्रेतानपि समशिक्षयदनुशिष्टेन हि भाव्यं पितुः पुत्रेणेति ॥ ४ ॥

tasyāpi ha vā ātmajasya vipraḥ putra-snehānubaddha-manā āsamāvartanāt saṁskārān yathopadeśaṁ vidadhāna upanītasya ca punaḥ śaucācamanādīn karma-niyamān anabhipretān api samaśikṣayad anuśiṣṭena hi bhāvyaṁ pituḥ putreṇeti.

For that son too, the brahmana, his mind bound by affection for his child, performed the purificatory rites in due order up to the rite of return from studentship; and even after his sacred-thread investiture, though the boy showed no inclination for it, the father again and again instructed him in the disciplines of purity — the sipping of water and the rest — thinking, 'It is the father's duty to train his son.'

Verse 5 (bhagavata.5.9.5)

स चापि तदु ह पितृसन्निधावेवासध्रीचीनमिव स्म करोति छन्दांस्यध्यापयिष्यन्सह व्याहृतिभिः सप्रणवशिरस्त्रिपदीं सावित्रीं ग्रैष्मवासन्तिकान्मासानधीयानमप्यसमवेतरूपं ग्राहयामास ॥ ५ ॥

sa cāpi tad u ha pitṛ-sannidhāv evāsadhrīcīnam iva sma karoti chandāṁsy adhyāpayiṣyan saha vyāhṛtibhiḥ sapraṇava-śiras tripadīṁ sāvitrīṁ graiṣma-vāsantikān māsān adhīyānam apy asamaveta-rūpaṁ grāhayām āsa.

Even in his father's very presence he behaved as though everything were done backwards. When his father, wishing to teach him the Vedic hymns together with the mystic utterances bhuh, bhuvah and svah, and the three-line Savitri preceded by the sacred syllable om, had him recite these through the months of summer and spring, the son let him receive them only in a garbled, disjointed form.

Verse 6 (bhagavata.5.9.6)

एवं स्वतनुज आत्मन्यनुरागावेशितचित्तः शौचाध्ययनव्रतनियमगुर्वनलशुश्रूषणाद्यौपकुर्वाणककर्माण्यनभियुक्तान्यपि समनुशिष्टेन भाव्यमित्यसदाग्रहः पुत्रमनुशास्य स्वयं तावद् अनधिगतमनोरथः कालेनाप्रमत्तेन स्वयं गृह एव प्रमत्त उपसंहृतः ॥ ६ ॥

evaṁ sva-tanuja ātmany anurāgāveśita-cittaḥ śaucādhyayana-vrata-niyama-gurv-anala-śuśrūṣaṇādy-aupakurvāṇaka-karmāṇy anabhiyuktāny api samanuśiṣṭena bhāvyam ity asad-āgrahaḥ putram anuśāsya svayaṁ tāvad anadhigata-manorathaḥ kālenāpramattena svayaṁ gṛha eva pramatta upasaṁhṛtaḥ.

Thus, though his own son's mind was in truth wholly absorbed in the Self, the father — holding fast to the mistaken conviction that a son must be trained regardless — instructed him again and again in the preliminary observances of a brahmachari unsuited for them: cleanliness, study, vows, discipline, service to the guru and the sacred fire, and the rest. And so, his own hopes never fulfilled, while he himself remained careless at home, he was in due course seized by time, which is never careless.

Verse 7 (bhagavata.5.9.7)

अथ यवीयसी द्विजसती स्वगर्भजातं मिथुनं सपत्न्या उपन्यस्य स्वयमनुसंस्थया पतिलोकमगात् ॥ ७ ॥

atha yavīyasī dvija-satī sva-garbha-jātaṁ mithunaṁ sapatnyā upanyasya svayam anusaṁsthayā patilokam agāt.

Then the younger of the two brahmana-wives, a woman of unwavering virtue, entrusted the twins born of her own womb to the care of the elder co-wife, and of her own will followed her husband in death, departing to his world.

Verse 8 (bhagavata.5.9.8)

पितर्युपरते भ्रातर एनमतत्प्रभावविदस्त्रय्यां विद्यायामेव पर्यवसितमतयो न परविद्यायां जडमतिरिति भ्रातुरनुशासननिर्बन्धान्न्यवृत्सन्त ॥ ८ ॥

pitary uparate bhrātara enam atat-prabhāva-vidas trayyāṁ vidyāyām eva paryavasita-matayo na para-vidyāyāṁ jaḍa-matir iti bhrātur anuśāsana-nirbandhān nyavṛtsanta.

When the father had died, his brothers, not knowing his true glory and their minds confined wholly to the ritual knowledge of the three Vedas, without any reach into transcendental knowledge, thinking him merely dull-witted, gave up the duty of instructing their brother further.

Verse 9 (bhagavata.5.9.9)

स च प्राकृतैर्द्विपदपशुभिरुन्मत्तजडबधिरमूकेत्यभिभाष्यमाणो यदा तदनुरूपाणि प्रभाषते कर्माणि च कार्यमाणः परेच्छया करोति विष्टितो वेतनतो वा याच्ञया यदृच्छया वोपसादितमल्पं बहु मृष्टं कदन्नं वाभ्यवहरति परं नेन्द्रियप्रीतिनिमित्तम् । नित्यनिवृत्तनिमित्तस्वसिद्धविशुद्धानुभवानन्दस्वात्मलाभाधिगमः सुखदुःखयोर्द्वन्द्वनिमित्तयोरसम्भावितदेहाभिमानः ॥ ९ ॥

sa ca prākṛtair dvipada-paśubhir unmatta-jaḍa-badhira-mūkety abhibhāṣyamāṇo yadā tad-anurūpāṇi prabhāṣate karmāṇi ca kāryamāṇaḥ parecchayā karoti viṣṭito vetanato vā yācñayā yadṛcchayā vopasāditam alpaṁ bahu mṛṣṭaṁ kadannaṁ vābhyavaharati paraṁ nendriya-prīti-nimittam. nitya-nivṛtta-nimitta-sva-siddha-viśuddhānubhavānanda-svātma-lābhādhigamaḥ sukha-duḥkhayor dvandva-nimittayor asambhāvita-dehābhimānaḥ.

When ordinary men, no better than two-legged beasts, called him mad, dull, deaf or mute, he would answer only as such names required, and no more. Made to labor at another's bidding, he would labor; whatever came to him — through hired work, through begging, or unasked — be it little or much, savory or stale or coarse, he would eat it, but never for the satisfaction of the senses. For he had already attained his own self, an attainment ever free of external cause, self-established and born of pure and unblemished bliss; he carried no false identification with the body born of the dualities of pleasure and pain.

Verse 10 (bhagavata.5.9.10)

शीतोष्णवातवर्षेषु वृष इवानावृताङ्गः पीनः संहननाङ्गः स्थण्डिलसंवेशनानुन्मर्दनामज्जनरजसा महामणिरिवानभिव्यक्तब्रह्मवर्चसः कुपटावृतकटिरुपवीतेनोरुमषिणा द्विजातिरिति ब्रह्मबन्धुरिति संज्ञयातज्ज्ञजनावमतो विचचार ॥ १० ॥

śītoṣṇa-vāta-varṣeṣu vṛṣa ivānāvṛtāṅgaḥ pīnaḥ saṁhananāṅgaḥ sthaṇḍila-saṁveśanānunmardanāmajjana-rajasā mahāmaṇir ivānabhivyakta-brahma-varcasaḥ kupaṭāvṛta-kaṭir upavītenoru-maṣiṇā dvijātir iti brahma-bandhur iti saṁjñayātaj-jñajanāvamato vicacāra.

In cold and heat, in wind and rain, he went uncovered like a bull, his body stout and firmly built; from lying on the bare earth, never massaged, never bathed, he was covered in dust, so that his brahminical radiance stayed hidden like a great jewel coated in grime. A soiled rag wrapped his waist, and his sacred thread had turned dark and grimy; and those who did not know his worth called him only 'a brahmana in name' and other such names, while he wandered about unconcerned.

Verse 11 (bhagavata.5.9.11)

यदा तु परत आहारं कर्मवेतनत ईहमानः स्वभ्रातृभिरपि केदारकर्मणि निरूपितस्तदपि करोति किन्तु न समं विषमं न्यूनमधिकमिति वेद कणपिण्याकफलीकरणकुल्माषस्थालीपुरीषादीन्यप्यमृतवदभ्यवहरति ॥ ११ ॥

yadā tu parata āhāraṁ karma-vetanata īhamānaḥ sva-bhrātṛbhir api kedāra-karmaṇi nirūpitas tad api karoti kintu na samaṁ viṣamaṁ nyūnam adhikam iti veda kaṇa-piṇyāka-phalī-karaṇa-kulmāṣa-sthālīpurīṣādīny apy amṛtavad abhyavaharati.

When he sought food from others in exchange for labor, his own brothers too would set him to work in their fields, and he would do it, though he had no notion of what was even or uneven, too little or too much. He would eat husks, oil cake, broken grain, and even the scorched crust scraped from the cooking pot, taking it all as though it were nectar.

Verse 12 (bhagavata.5.9.12)

अथ कदाचित्कश्चिद् वृषलपतिर्भद्रकाल्यै पुरुषपशुमालभतापत्यकामः ॥ १२ ॥

atha kadācit kaścid vṛṣala-patir bhadra-kālyai puruṣa-paśum ālabhatāpatya-kāmaḥ.

Then once a certain chieftain of a band of low-caste men, desiring a son, resolved to offer a human sacrifice to the goddess Bhadrakali.

Verse 13 (bhagavata.5.9.13)

तस्य ह दैवमुक्तस्य पशोः पदवीं तदनुचराः परिधावन्तो निशि निशीथसमये तमसाऽऽवृतायामनधिगतपशव आकस्मिकेन विधिना केदारान् वीरासनेन मृगवराहादिभ्यः संरक्षमाणमङ्गिरःप्रवरसुतमपश्यन् ॥ १३ ॥

tasya ha daiva-muktasya paśoḥ padavīṁ tad-anucarāḥ paridhāvanto niśi niśītha-samaye tamasāvṛtāyām anadhigata-paśava ākasmikena vidhinā kedārān vīrāsanena mṛga-varāhādibhyaḥ saṁrakṣamāṇam aṅgiraḥ-pravara-sutam apaśyan.

When the victim marked out by fate for that sacrifice escaped, his followers ran here and there searching for him; and at midnight, wrapped in darkness, having found no victim, by pure chance they came upon the son of that foremost of the line of Angira, sitting up on a platform to guard the fields against deer and wild boar.

Verse 14 (bhagavata.5.9.14)

अथ त एनमनवद्यलक्षणमवमृश्य भर्तृकर्मनिष्पत्तिं मन्यमाना बद्ध्वा रशनया चण्डिकागृहमुपनिन्युर्मुदा विकसितवदनाः ॥ १४ ॥

atha ta enam anavadya-lakṣaṇam avamṛśya bhartṛ-karma-niṣpattiṁ manyamānā baddhvā raśanayā caṇḍikā-gṛham upaninyur mudā vikasita-vadanāḥ.

Examining him and finding his features flawless, they took it that their master's purpose was as good as accomplished; and with faces bright with joy, they bound him with a rope and led him off to the temple of Chandika.

Verse 15 (bhagavata.5.9.15)

अथ पणयस्तं स्वविधिनाभिषिच्याहतेन वाससाऽऽच्छाद्य भूषणालेपस्रक्तिलकादिभिरुपस्कृतं भुक्तवन्तं धूपदीपमाल्यलाजकिसलयाङ्कुरफलोपहारोपेतया वैशससंस्थयामहता गीतस्तुतिमृदङ्गपणवघोषेण च पुरुषपशुं भद्रकाल्याः पुरत उपवेशयामासुः ॥ १५ ॥

atha paṇayas taṁ sva-vidhinābhiṣicyāhatena vāsasācchādya bhūṣaṇālepa-srak-tilakādibhir upaskṛtaṁ bhuktavantaṁ dhūpa-dīpa-mālya-lāja-kisalayāṅkura-phalopahāropetayā vaiśasa-saṁsthayā mahatā gīta-stuti-mṛdaṅga-paṇava-ghoṣeṇa ca puruṣa-paśuṁ bhadra-kālyāḥ purata upaveśayām āsuḥ.

The thieves then bathed him according to their own rite, dressed him in fresh cloth, adorned him with ornaments, unguent, garlands and the sacred mark, fed him well, and seated the human victim before Bhadrakali amid the full ceremony of slaughter — with incense and lamps, garlands, parched grain, tender shoots and fruit as offerings, and to the sound of loud singing, praise, and the mridanga and panava drums.

Verse 16 (bhagavata.5.9.16)

अथ वृषलराजपणिः पुरुषपशोरसृगासवेन देवीं भद्रकालीं यक्ष्यमाणस्तदभिमन्त्रितमसिमतिकरालनिशितमुपाददे ॥ १६ ॥

atha vṛṣala-rāja-paṇiḥ puruṣa-paśor asṛg-āsavena devīṁ bhadra-kālīṁ yakṣyamāṇas tad-abhimantritam asim ati-karāla-niśitam upādade.

Then the chief of the thieves, about to offer the goddess Bhadrakali the blood of the human victim as her drink, took up the fearsome, keenly sharpened sword he had consecrated for that purpose.

Verse 17 (bhagavata.5.9.17)

इति तेषां वृषलानां रजस्तमःप्रकृतीनां धनमदरजउत्सिक्तमनसां भगवत्कलावीरकुलं कदर्थीकृत्योत्पथेन स्वैरं विहरतां हिंसाविहाराणां कर्मातिदारुणं यद्ब्रह्मभूतस्य साक्षाद्ब्रह्मर्षिसुतस्य निर्वैरस्य सर्वभूतसुहृदः सूनायामप्यननुमतमालम्भनं तदुपलभ्य ब्रह्मतेजसातिदुर्विषहेण दन्दह्यमानेन वपुषा सहसोच्चचाट सैव देवी भद्रकाली ॥ १७ ॥

iti teṣāṁ vṛṣalānāṁ rajas-tamaḥ-prakṛtīnāṁ dhana-mada-raja-utsikta-manasāṁ bhagavat-kalā-vīra-kulaṁ kadarthī-kṛtyotpathena svairaṁ viharatāṁ hiṁsā-vihārāṇāṁ karmāti-dāruṇaṁ yad brahma-bhūtasya sākṣād brahmarṣi-sutasya nirvairasya sarva-bhūta-suhṛdaḥ sūnāyām apy ananumatam ālambhanaṁ tad upalabhya brahma-tejasāti-durviṣaheṇa dandahyamānena vapuṣā sahasoccacāṭa saiva devī bhadra-kālī.

Such, then, were these low men of the nature of passion and ignorance, their minds swollen with the pride of wealth, who had brought to nothing a hero who was himself a portion of the Lord, and who roamed wherever they pleased along evil paths, given over to deeds of violence. Their act was exceedingly cruel: they had dared, under the pretext of a mere ritual killing, to attempt the unsanctioned slaughter of one who was Brahman itself, the very son of a brahmarshi, free from enmity, the well-wisher of every being. Perceiving this, the goddess Bhadrakali herself, her body blazing with an unbearable brahminical fire, suddenly burst forth from the image.

Verse 18 (bhagavata.5.9.18)

भृशममर्षरोषावेशरभसविलसितभ्रुकुटिविटपकुटिलदंष्ट्रारुणेक्षणाटोपातिभयानकवदना हन्तुकामेवेदं महाट्टहासमतिसंरम्भेण विमुञ्चन्ती तत उत्पत्य पापीयसां दुष्टानां तेनैवासिना विवृक्णशीर्ष्णां गलात्स्रवन्तमसृगासवमत्युष्णं सह गणेन निपीयातिपानमदविह्वलोच्चैस्तरां स्वपार्षदैः सह जगौ ननर्त च विजहार च शिरःकन्दुकलीलया ॥ १८ ॥

bhṛśam amarṣa-roṣāveśa-rabhasa-vilasita-bhru-kuṭi-viṭapa-kuṭila-daṁṣṭrāruṇekṣaṇāṭopāti-bhayānaka-vadanā hantu-kāmevedaṁ mahāṭṭa-hāsam ati-saṁrambheṇa vimuñcantī tata utpatya pāpīyasāṁ duṣṭānāṁ tenaivāsinā vivṛkṇa-śīrṣṇāṁ galāt sravantam asṛg-āsavam atyuṣṇaṁ saha gaṇena nipīyāti-pāna-mada-vihvaloccaistarāṁ sva-pārṣadaiḥ saha jagau nanarta ca vijahāra ca śiraḥ-kanduka-līlayā.

Her face grown terrible with rage, her curved brows flashing in unbearable fury, her fangs bared and curved, her eyes reddened and glaring as though she meant to destroy everything at once, she let out a great and furious peal of laughter. Leaping up from the altar, she severed the heads of those wicked, most sinful men with that very sword, and drank the hot blood-liquor streaming from their necks. Together with her retinue she drank on, utterly overcome with the intoxication of that drink, and sang and danced aloud, playing with their severed heads as though they were balls.

Verse 19 (bhagavata.5.9.19)

एवमेव खलु महदभिचारातिक्रमः कार्त्स्न्येनात्मने फलति ॥ १९ ॥

evam eva khalu mahad-abhicārāti-kramaḥ kārtsnyenātmane phalati.

Thus it is that any offense committed against the great through such black rites always comes to fruit entirely upon the one who commits it.

Verse 20 (bhagavata.5.9.20)

न वा एतद्विष्णुदत्त महदद्भुतं यदसम्भ्रमः स्वशिरश्छेदन आपतितेऽपि विमुक्तदेहाद्यात्मभावसुदृढहृदयग्रन्थीनां सर्वसत्त्वसुहृदात्मनां निर्वैराणां साक्षाद्भगवतानिमिषारिवरायुधेनाप्रमत्तेन तैस्तैर्भावैः परिरक्ष्यमाणानां तत्पादमूलमकुतश्चिद्भयमुपसृतानां भागवतपरमहंसानाम् ॥ २० ॥

na vā etad viṣṇudatta mahad-adbhutaṁ yad asambhramaḥ sva-śiraś-chedana āpatite ’pi vimukta-dehādy-ātma-bhāva-sudṛḍha-hṛdaya-granthīnāṁ sarva-sattva-suhṛd-ātmanāṁ nirvairāṇāṁ sākṣād bhagavatānimiṣāri-varāyudhenāpramattena tais tair bhāvaiḥ parirakṣyamāṇānāṁ tat-pāda-mūlam akutaścid-bhayam upasṛtānāṁ bhāgavata-paramahaṁsānām.

Shri Shukadeva said: O Vishnudatta, it is no great wonder at all that he showed no agitation even when the very severing of his own head was upon him. For those whose heart's knot of false identification with the body has been wholly loosened, who are the friends of every being and free from enmity, are always protected directly by the Lord Himself, through His unfailing, ever-watchful weapon supreme, in whatever form His protection takes — such great devotees, having taken shelter at His feet, know fear from no quarter.