LESSON OF KING BHARAT (Part 1)

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LESSON OF KING BHARAT

 

Summary Translation by Richard Shaw Brown

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Period: Treta (Silver) Yuga Ð over one million years BC

 

Bharata, the eldest son of King Rishabdev, was a devout Theist. When his

exalted father retired from material life to seek God alone in the wilderness,

he appointed his foremost son, Bharata, to succeed him as King.

 

Accepting his fatherÕs order he began to rule the vast Kingdom (modern India

is STILL named Bharata, but during the time of BharatÕs rule his domain,

known as Bharata varsha, included all the land between Persia and South

East Asia). Following his fatherÕs wishes he also married beautiful Pancajana

(lit. five persons), who became his Queen.

 

In the womb of Queen Pancajana King Bharata procreated five wonderful

sons, who were named Sumati (lit. highest good), Raashtrabhrita (lit. ),

Sudarshana (lit. highest vision), Aavarana (lit. --- ) and Dhumraketu (lit. ---

).

 

Originally this (Asian-known) Earth was called Ajanabha-varsha (in Vedic

history), but since the time of King Bharata it became known as Bharata-

varsha (now shrunk to modern India).

 

King Bharata ruled with great skill, and treated his subjects like a father

treats

a child. He was very expert and wise, and he showed his people by example

how to perform their duties according to their inbred qualities and activities.

Protecting and leading the people of his kingdom King Bharata ruled with

strength and compassion.

 

With a mind to propitiate and please God, King Bharata performed the various

Vedic sacrifices and ceremonies.

Believing that all the Vedic Hierarchy and all beings were part of God, King

Bharata always mentally offered the good karma acquired through his

activities back to God, for the pleasure of God, knowing that by watering the

ÒrootÓ of a tree you thereby nourish the entire tree. In this way he performed

all

his duties as an offering to God.

 

Through manifold pious activities carried out during his very long life King

BharataÕs consciousness became pure, and he became free of lust, anger,

infatuation and material attachment. His heart having become clean his

devotion to the Lord of the Universe grew every day.

 

The all-attractive Lord of the Universe, is the highest Being, and He manifests

Himself in three ways, 1) as Paramatma or supersoul within the heart of every

living being, 2) as Brahman or the impersonal all-pervading totally of life, and

also 3) as Bhagavan or the beautifully dressed and adorned Supreme Being

Who always resides with unlimited devotes in His eternal spiritual paradise.

 

According to his good karma King Bharat enjoyed material pleasures and

ruled for a very long time; but when he felt his time was up, he decided to

retire from family life, and accordingly he divided the wealth and domain he

had inherited amongst his five grown sons.

 

Having duly installed his sons as the new rulers, Bharat resolutely departed

from his opulent palace and loving wife and family and walked, alone and

penniless, to a place in the Himalayas near Haridwar (lit. Door to God) named

Pulahasrama. This spot is sanctified by the divine Sri Shalagram stones,

which are found there.

 

There, in the Krishna-Gandaki River, The Supreme Lord has mercifully

manifest Himself to His devotees in the form of smooth water-worn dark

stones called ÒShalagramÓ which are decorated with the signs of the chakra or

discus and navel of the Supreme Lord.

 

Having accepted the life of a mendicant, former King Bharat passed his

remaining days in the forest-ashram of Pulaha (lit. --- ). By collecting fruits,

nuts, berries, flowers, and holy basil leaves he offered these items to God via

his Shalagram Stone Form, and Bharata himself subsided on the leftovers -

feeling more and more contented.

 

Worshipping the Lord of the Universe in this manner his heart and mind

became completely purified and he felt great spiritual satisfaction in his

solitary service to God. He completely lost any desire for mundane sense

pleasures and remained steady in his devotion.

 

Because he was such an exalted devotee, King Bharata, always engaged in

constant remembrance of the Supreme Lord, and his heart melted in divine

love.

 

In fact, he became so absorbed in his devotional meditation that he gradually

lost all interest in rules and regulations, and remained absorbed in

remembrance of God and his spiritual attributes.

 

Because of feeling divine ecstasy his body hairs stood up in goose bumps,

and so many tears of joy flooded his eyes that he was unable to see clearly.

In this manner he meditated on the form and glories of God until his heart

became like a calm lake of divine love; and with his heart and mind so

immersed he even forgot his routine duties.

 

Physically King Bharat was very handsome, with thick curly hair on his head

that was always wet from bathing three times every day. He wore only a

deerskin. King Bharat worshiped God as the light within the Sun by reciting

Vedic Sanskrit verses and prayers. He would also pray in the following

wordsÉ

 

ÒI bow to the Supreme Lord who is the bestower of intelligence. As the light of

the Sun, God Narayana illuminates the entire universe and blesses all

beings.

He has created this universe using his own material and spiritual energies,

and after creation he has entered into the heart of every individual finite soul

as Supersoul. By his varied energies Lord Narayana is maintaining all living

souls."

 

One day after Bharat had finishing his morning cleansing and bathing duties

Ñ He sat on the bank of the Gandaki River and began chanting his mantras,

beginning with OM.

 

While Bharata sat chanting he saw that a pregnant doe had come to the

opposite river bank and was drinking water.

 

Suddenly the load roar of a near by lion terrified the doe who by nature was

always afraid of being killed, and she leapt across the river. Because the doe

was pregnant and jumped out of fear, the baby deer fell from her womb into

the river.

 

Meanwhile the doe reached the opposite river bank and immediately dropped

dead from acute distress and exhaustion.

 

When King Bharata saw the motherless baby deer floating down the river he

felt great compassion. He immediately lifted the baby deer from the water,

and, like a true friend he brought the fawn to his Ashram hut.

 

Seeing the helpless fawn King Bharata felt great compassion toward the deer,

and he began to feed it grass and protect it from the danger of tigers and other

animals. He felt compelled to raise the dear, and becoming affectionate the

King would pet it and even kiss it out of love.

 

He become so absorbed in raising the fawn that he gradually forgot his holy

duties and even forgot to meditate on and worship the Supreme Lord. He

began to think, ÒOh what a pity. By destiny, which is a force of GodÕs Time

factor, this young and helpless fawn has taken shelter of me; I am its only

family. The deer is completely trusting in me, with full faith, so it is my duty

to

protect this creature, even at the cost of neglecting my own spiritual life. It

would be a great fault if for my own selfish reasons I did not nurture this poor

helpless creature that has taken shelter with me. A good man will never

neglect a helpless being that has sought protection.Ó

 

ÒEven though the deer is disturbing my spiritual life, I realize that a helpless

being that has come under my shelter cannot be neglected. That would be a

great fault.

Even if one is a monk in the renounced they should feel compassion for

suffering living beings. A good man will certainly neglect his own personal

interests, however important they may be, to selflessly protect one who has

taken shelter.Ó

 

Through this association King Bharat developed an endearing attachment for

the young dear, and he would lay with it and play with it and even eat with it.

In this way his purified heart again became bound up in material affection, this

time to the young and charming deer.

 

Whenever Bharat when into the forest to collect eatables and wood he would

always take the young dear with him out of affection for itÕs playful and

charming antics, as well as fear for itÕs safety from wild animals. He became

so affectionate that he would play with the dear and sometimes even carry the

young fawn on his shoulder. The King felt great happiness in playing with the

fawn.

 

Whenever King Bharata engaged in some ritualistic spiritual practice he

would break at intervals to check on the well being of the deer. Seeing that his

beloved deer was comfortable he would bless it by saying, ÒMy dear fawn,

may you always be well and happy!Ó

 

Whenever the deer was out of sight King Bharat would worry, and like a miser

who had lost his wealth, he would lament in this mannerÉ

 

ÒWoe-is-me, my beloved fawn is missing and may have been killed by a hard-

hearted hunter. Alas, the poor deer is helpless and I am so unfortunate that I

cannot protect it. The deer has put full trust in me although I am selfish and

cruel. But this deer has faith in me, just as a good man forgets the

misbehavior of a friend and still maintains his faith in him. Oh, I wonder, will

this helpless creature again return?Ó

 

ÒHas it been killed by wild animals? Will it again return and gladden my heart

with its playful ways and eating of soft grasses? I fear that it has been eaten

by a lone tiger or a flock of wild boars, or killed by wild dogs devoid of

mercy.Ó

 

ÒIn the morning when the sun rises all auspicious things begin. But not so for

me, worried as I am about the welfare of the deer. And now the sun is setting

and still the poor deer has not yet returned.Ó

 

ÒOh, when will I see the princely deer again playing so sweetly? When will it

come back and pacify my anxious heart? I must be devoid of good karma

otherwise the deer would have returned by now.Ó

 

ÒWhen I pretend to meditate the fawn would walk around me out of love and

nudge me with its soft baby horns to get my attention.Ó

 

ÒWhenever I try to prepare sacred articles for worship the deer would pollute

them by playfully touch with his mouth. And when I scold the deer it becomes

as still as a saint out of fear.Ó

 

Raving in this way the King went outside and seeing the footprints of the deer

on the ground, he praised the footprints out of love, saying, Òthe footprints of

this deer, which are soft, beautiful, most auspicious, are imprinted on the

surface of this fortunate Earth. By following these soft footprints I can again

regain the lost treasure of my life.

 

King Bharata continued speaking like a madman, and seeing the deer-like

spots on the full moon he thought that his deer must have been given shelter

by the Moon god, who is protecting it from lions.

 

Looking at the Moon, Bharata began ranting like a madman, ÒIn feeling

separation for the deer I am also feeling acute separation for my owns sons.

My heart is burning in agony of separation like being in a forest-fire, and

seeing my dilemma the friendly Moon is sending down soothing beams just

like a friend throws water on a friend suffering from high fever.

 

King Bharata was overwhelmed by an uncontrollable desire in the form of the

deer. Due to the results of his past karma he neglected his meditation and fell

down from the lofty height of mystic yoga, penance, worship of God, and

material detachment and lost his spiritual life.

 

If not for past karma how else could Bharat have become attracted to a deer,

an animal, after having renounced his beautiful Queen, his loving children,

and kingdom while considering that material attachment blocked salvation of

his soul? He left his beloved family for liberation and yet became ensnared by

attachment to a deer. This can only be the result of his past karma.

 

King Bharat became so attached to the deer that he gradually gave up all his

spiritual practices and ignored the passage of time. Eventually Death entered

his hut just like a poisonous snake enters through a mouse hole and stood

before him. Seeing death, the King looked over at the deer lying next to him,

like his own son, and it was shedding tears over his demise.

 

Thus, at the time of death King BharatÕs mind was absorbed in the body of a

deer, and after he left his human body he was reborn as a baby deer at a

nearby location. But because of his previous spiritual activities even he lost

his human body and took on the body of a deer yet he did not forget his past

life. This was due to the karma of his previous spiritual attainments.

 

Because of his high past karma his intelligence allowed him to understand

that he was in the body of a deer, and he could remember how it happened.

Remembering his fall down he said to himself.

 

ÒWhat a huge mistake! Although advanced I have fallen from the spiritual

path. I renounced my loving sons, my affectionate wife and heavenly kingdom

just to make advancement in spiritual life, and I took shelter in a lonely holy

place in the wilderness. I had become self-controlled and self-realized, and I

engaged constantly in remembering the Supreme Lord of the Universe. I was

reaching success and my heart was becoming like a clean mirror. But

somehow I was so foolish to allow my mind to once again become attachedÑ

to an animal, a deer. Now I have been reborn in this body of a deer and have

strayed far away from my spiritual goal of life.Ó É

 

TO BE CONTINUED É