A Deceptive Demeanour

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

 

 

A Deceptive Demeanour

 

 

 

Who would you say is the exemplary devotee? Any number of names may

strike you off hand-Sri Dhruva, Sri Prahlada, Sri Narada, Sri Guha-the list is

seemingly endless. However, who is to be counted ahead of all these worthies,

who displayed overwhelming love and affection for the Lord? It is none other

than Sri Bharata, avers Swami Desikan- " BharatAya param namOstu, prathama

udAharaNaya bhakti bhAjAm " . The very name of Sri Bharata brings before us the

traits of an exemplary bhakta, just as the word " sAdhu " brings immediately to

our memory Sri PrahlAda- " upamAnam asEshANAm sAdhoonAm ya: sadA abhavat " . Sri

ValmIki too pays the son of KaikEyI a rare compliment, which he does not accord

to the other sons of DasaratA- 'PushyE jAtastu Bharata: meena lagnE prasanna

dhee: " Sri Bharata was blessed with a clear, unclouded, sharp and devotionally

inclined intellect, even at birth-the " mayarvara madi nalam " with which Sri

Nammazhwar too was endowed. It is this depth of wisdom which made this scion of

the IkshvAku dynasty abandon the coveted throne of Ayodhya, which was

practically thrust on him and instead, choose to live a life of renunciation at

NandigrAmam, performing ArAdhanam to Sri Rama pAdukAs and acting as a mere

errand boy of the PAdukAs, which were the de facto rulers of the Empire.

 

 

 

Tempting, as it is to continue about Sri Rama's distinguished brother,

our subject is quite different, though a namesake of ShatrughnA's idol. While

the Bharata of Valmiki was called " Prasanna dhee: " or a person of

extraordinarily clear thought processes, the Bharata we are about to see was

regarded as an insentient being, though blessed with a human birth.

 

 

 

Among the innumerable avatArAs the Lord assumes for emancipating

errant mankind is that of Rishabha dEva, in which the Lord demonstrated the

dharmAs relating to a life of renunciation and Yoga. He had a hundred sons, of

which Bharata was the first. When Rishabha deva decided to retire from mundane

life and took to the forest for contemplation of the Lord, He handed over the

reigns of power to Bharata, who made an ideal King. Even while immersed in the

affairs of state, Bharata led a life of austerity and devotion, ever engaged in

the performance of YagAs and Yagyas directed at pleasing the Lord, with the

realisation that it was ultimately Emperuman who was the recipient of

sacrificial offerings as the antaryAmi of the dEvatAs to whom they were

apparently addressed. He was thus a " shuddha yAji " , performing sacrifices solely

for the pleasure of the Lord and as modes of His worship, with the firm

conviction resulting from the Gita vakyam-

 

" aham hi sarva yagyAnAm bhOktA cha prabhurEva cha "

 

 

 

Such altruistic action, uncontaminated by selfish intent, gave Bharata a

rare maturity and devotion, which made it difficult for him to stick for long to

this mundane, humdrum life, with the result that he opted for an early

retirement from princely life and adoption of VAnaprasta Ashrama, retiring to

SAlagrAma kshEtrA for penance. The idyllic beauty of the locale and its absolute

tranquillity made it an ideal place for contemplation of the Lord and Bharata

immersed himself in this pleasurable activity, freeing himself from all worldly

pursuits and occupations, leading a life of total renunciation, truly rid of all

desire.

 

 

 

" ShrEyAmsi bahu vighnAni " goes the adage, pointing out the propensity of

hurdles to crop up, especially when the venture undertaken is noble. Fate took a

hand in Bharata's life of peace and devotion, in the form of a deer. While

performing his sandhyAvandanam in the river one day, Bharata heard a terrifyng

roar, emanating from an angry lion in pursuit of its prey. A pregnant deer too

heard the roar and, in abject terror, suffered a premature delivery, with the

full-grown foetus slipping into the river and by a quirk of benevolent fate,

coming to rest gently against a sandbank, while the mother fell down lifeless.

Bharata, who was a witness to all this, was moved beyond measure by compassion

for the little one, which had lost its mother at birth and would surely not live

long, left to itself.

 

 

 

Prompted by his natural mercy and sympathy for the underdog, Bharata picked up

the just-born deer calf gently, took it to his Ashramam and cared for it,

nursing it through sickness and health, lavishing all his love and kindness on

the helpless creature. The calf grew up into a bewitching young one, staring at

Bharata through its liquid brown eyes full of gratitude for the surrogate

mother. It would butt Bharata on his chest with its nascent horns and play with

him in myriad other ways common to young ones. Bharata too was wrapped up in his

new ward and spent as much time as possible with the loving and beloved deer

calf . Even while visiting the river for his anushttAnam, he would hurry back at

the earliest, unable to bear the thought of some wild animal causing harm to his

newfound love. He felt extremely responsible for the calf as would a parent

towards his only child, and this preoccupation made him concentrate less and

less on his avowed mission of Divine Contemplation. Having left his kingdom and

all his human relations for the purpose of focussing his thoughts on the Eternal

Relative, Bharata was now bound again by the strong bonds of passion for the

deer, which, he thought, would perish without his attention. Bharata's end drew

near. It is not difficult to guess what was his last thought-it was solely about

the deer and what it would do without his protective care.

 

 

 

Shastras tell us that what occupies one's last thought (antima smriti) has a

lot to do with what one is born as in the next janma-

 

" yam yam vApi smaran bhAvam tyajati ante kaLEbaram

 

tam tam Evaiti KountEya sadA tad bhAva bhAvita: "

 

says the Gita.

 

 

 

True to this, Bharata too was reborn as a deer.

 

 

 

We may be inclined to think, " What a waste this business of Bhakti Yoga is! A

lifetime of penance and devotion have landed Bharata in the lowly janma of a

deer, merely because he developed attachment towards the animal during the last

stages of his life and due to the deer having occupied his last thoughts. " This

is however incorrect, for, Bhakti Yoga never goes waste just because it is not

completed in any one particular birth. The Yogi retains the accumulated merit

and just picks up the thread in the next birth, where he left off in the

previous one. The Gitacharya too confirms this- " na hi kalyANa krit kaschit

durgatim tAta! Gacchati " .

 

 

 

Accordingly, once his life as a deer came to an end, Bharata was born in the

celebrated family of a Maharshi belonging to the Athreya gOtra. Right from the

day of his birth, Bharata took absolutely no interest in the affairs of the

world, influenced by the wisdom and virakti acquired over several janmAs. He was

forever immersed in the contemplation of the Lord and His auspicious attributes.

This made him oblivious to what happened around him, much in the fashion of Sri

Nammazhwar, who too did not engage in any mundane activity, right from birth

till he attained mOksha. Bharata's imperviousness to the requirements of social

behaviour and etiquette earned him the sobriquet " Jada Bharata " from his peers.

The Maharshi put his son through all requisite samskArAs at the appointed time,

but Bharata showed little interest in ritualistic worship, being engaged in

constant communion with the Lord. The boy ate when he was fed, and remained

unfed, for days together, when people forgot about him. He wore any odd cloth,

unmindful of its being torn or dirty. He bothered not about heat or cold, praise

or insult, pleasure or pain. He was awake when the whole world was asleep and

appeared deep in slumber during the waking hours observed by others.

 

 

 

Society never tolerates non-conformist conduct, considering it a threat to

order. People hence considered Bharata mad, while to him, the entire world,

engaged in a blind pursuit of material pleasures, appeared insane. " PEyarE

yAvarum enakku, yAnum Or pEyanE, evarkkum idu pEsi yen? " says Sri Kulasekhara

Perumal, pointing out that there is no meeting ground between the Bhakta and the

rest of the mundane world, each regarding the other as stark, raving mad. This

was wholly true of Bharata.

 

 

 

When his parents passed away, Bharata's brothers drove him away from home, glad

to be rid of the unwelcome responsibility of the crazy brother. Adding insult to

injury, they left him to guard a field of ripe corn against birds and pests,

bothering little about his reqrirements. Searching for someone to offer as

sacrifice to Kali, a few KApAlikAs dragged him to the bali peeta before Kali and

tied him up, preparatory to cutting off his head. Bharata was unmoved by all

this, as he had no attachment to his body, which would anyway perish, one day or

the other. However, Kali herself, aware of the great BhAgavata apachAra about to

be perpetrated, stepped in and set Bharata free, destroying his captors. Bharata

was as unaffected by the passing off of the threat to his life, as he was when

the upraised sword was about to fall on his neck.

 

 

 

Resuming his aimless wandering, Bharata reached the banks of the Ikshumati River

and was sitting there, lost in contemplation, when King RahoogaNA passed by in

his palanquin, on his way to seek divine wisdom from Kapila Maharshi. Short of a

bearer, the King's retinue made the unresisting Bharata bear one side of the

palanquin. Smiling to himself at the ways of the Lord and regarding the job as

one of the ways to work off prArabda karma, Bharata bore the palanquin without

complaint. However, filled as he was with compassion for all beings, he

repeatedly stepped over colonies of ants and other insects, while the other

bearers stepped on them. This uneven step of the palanquin bearers made the

carriage sway and the King hit his head against a corner, as a result. The pain

made the King threaten the bearers with dire punishment and they in turn,

terrified of impending retribution, pointed their accusing finger at Bharata as

the person responsible for the uneven progress.

 

 

 

Looking at the Saint's naturally sturdy body (despite minimal intake), the King

made fun of Bharata, saying that the latter had probably worn thin due to hard

labour, castigating him simultaneously for his shoddy work. He threatened the

uncooperative palanquin bearer with stringent punishment, if he failed to do his

job properly.

 

 

 

Uncharacteristically, Jada Bharata reacted. He told the King that heat and

cold, insult and adulation, birth and death, punishment and reward-all these

affected only the body and not the soul. He told the King further, " You can

 

chastise this shareeram, but you cannot punish Me, who am the Atma, distinct and

different from this body formed of the five elements. The body perishes, being

made of matter, but not the Soul, which has neither a birth nor a death. "

 

 

 

 

 

Stunned by this scholarly discourse from the recalcitrant carrier of the

palanquin, the King realised that it was no ordinary person he had ridden on and

immediately prostrated before Bharata, begging his forgiveness for the insults

heaped on the latter. Conscious that the bearer was indeed a BrahmagnAni, the

King prayed to him for enlightenment. RagoohaNa posed this important question to

Sri Bharata-

 

" You said that the Atma is not subject to the pleasure or pain, the heat or cold

which the body feels. However, just as the rice inside a pot is cooked by means

of the heat applied to the pot externally, wouldn't the Atma too, resident as it

is inside the body, be affected by all that happens to the body? "

 

 

 

Bharata replied, " The nature of the body and soul is distinct and different.

While the former is made up of non-sentient matter, the latter has the attribute

of " dharma bhoota gnAnam " , which enables it to know all that happens, without

the aid of the constricting matter. Thus, though residing within the body, the

Soul is unaffected by what happens to its outward shell. The ignorant traveller,

unable to distinguish between these two, remains forever shackled by Karma due

to " dEhAtma bhramam " , while one who has the blessing of an Acharya realises the

eternality of the Soul and is freed from all feeling of responsibility for his

worldly sojourn " . Bharata further advised the inquisitive King to sharpen the

Sword of Wisdom on the stone of Devotion and wield it for destroying all earthly

shackles with the cutting edge.

 

 

 

After imparting enlightenment to the avid King, who was a passionate seeker,

Bharata went his own way. After remaining in the world for the ordained period,

Sri Bharata attained MokshA as the culmination of his Bhakti Yoga.

 

 

 

This world has any number of Mahatmas who go about incognito, loathe to

publicising themselves and their spiritual attainments. The roughest of

exteriors sometimes hides a heart of gold and the scruffiest of appearances may

mask a soul on its last lap in the race to liberation. While it may be difficult

for us to distinguish a saint from a tramp based on mere facades, we may be

spared bhAgavata apachAram similar to that of the aforesaid King, if we treat

everyone as bhagavat vibhooti, every single person we come across as the

embodiment of the Supreme Lord, who resides in everyone as the antaryAmi.

 

 

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dasan, sadagopan