The Indian Dharma

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed how Sage Jada-Bharata gave some befitting replies to King Rahugunua’s relatively “stupid” questions, which he had asked out of anger and frustration. Sage Jada-Bharata blunted every question that King Rahuguna had asked with some witty replies. Upon this, Sage Rahuguna slowly started realizing the significance of the person with whom he was conversing with. He immediately asked a set of three questions to Sage Jada-Bharata thus – Who are you? Where are you from? Why did you come here? Again, upon listening to the king’s fresh set of questions thus, Sage Jada-Bharata burst out laughing and once again mocked at King Rahuguna for his utter foolishness! We might wonder what is the big foolishness in asking for an introduction to someone whom we do not know! However, Sage Jada-Bharata being a high-profile “Vedanti” by nature had other plans! He had a different view for these questions and replied to King Rahuguna sharply thus, “Oh king! For heaven sake, please do not ask these three questions to anybody else in your life from today!” King Rahuguna was completely taken aback by such a reply from Sage Jada-Bharata. Upon probing further, Sage Jada-Bharata continued further thus, “Oh king! If you ask these three questions to someone, you’ll end up getting the same answer from all of them! Hence, why waste time in asking people the same questions over and over again?” 

So what would be that common answer which all people might end up giving? Let us continue witnessing the “Jada-Bharata-Upaakyaanam” from this point onwards in today’s episode. As Sage Jada-Bharata gives a peculiar reply thus, King Rahuguna asked a counter question – How can that be the case? How can all people have the same answers for these questions? Different people have different identities, isn’t it?” Sage Bharata replies back thus, “Oh King! Listen carefully! You are the same person that I am! You had asked me where did I come from, isn’t it? Let me tell you one thing – I came from the same place from where you had come! Next, what did you ask? What was the purpose behind me coming here, isn’t it? Let me tell you – I also came for the same purpose for which you had come here!” 

Now what is Sage Bharata trying to explain here? For the first question – Who am I? The”common” answer for all of us would be, I’m a Jeevatma, and you are a Jeevatma! For the second question, Where did you come from? I came from the womb of a mother, and you also came from the womb of a mother! So all of us have a common answer here also, isn’t it? Now for the third question – What was the purpose behind you coming here? The simple answer is “To wash off my Karma”. This is precisely the same agenda with which all of us come to this world, isn’t it? So what is the big difference between you , me, King Rahuguna or Sage Jada-Bharata? Explaining thus to King Rahuguna, Sage Bharata re-emphasizes his advice to him thus, “Oh King! As you would have witnessed how all of us are the same in terms of the three questions that you had asked, please do not ask these questions to anybody whom you see from today! By doing so, you’re only wasting your time as well as other’s! However, there is a slight difference here. When I had said that all of us take birth in this world to wash away our Karma, we obviously do so in our own different ways. For instance, you’re washing off your Karma by sitting inside the coach, whereas I’m washing off my Karma by carrying your coach in my shoulders! That’s the only difference here!” 

What a reply this was from Sage Jada-Bharata? Indeed, something that all of us should ponder over, isn’t it? If we consider our own examples here, both myself and all of our readers are born in this world to wash off our Karma, and we’ve all come from the same place, which is the womb of our mothers. However, the ways through which we wash off our Karmas are going to be different. For instance, in this case, I’m trying to wash off my Karma by writing something little about Bhagawan every passing day, and as readers, all of you are trying to wash off your Karma by reading whatever I’m writing every day. This is how we have differences in the process through which we wash off our Karma. However, the agenda of washing off our Karma remains the same for all of us and that is our ultimate goal in our life. Thus, just because I’m the person who’s writing everyday, I’m not going to be a step higher than everybody else, and just because many of us are only reading this content, we’re not going to be inferior in any way. We should realize and understand from this point that all of us have only one important agenda, and we should meticulously focus on that every passing day! 

So for today, let us understand this important message of Sage Jada-Bharata very clearly and let us start doing the needful! We shall wait till the next episode to continue with this important conversation between Sage Jada-Bharata and King Rahuguna further! Stay tuned! 🙂  

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We’re amidst an important juncture and a set of turn-around events as part of the “Jada-Bharata-Upaakyaanam”, wherein Sage Jada-Bharata is giving a befitting reply to King Rahuguna’s anger-mixed sarcasm. Initially we’ve witnessed how King Rahuguna made Sage Jada-Bharata lift his carriage and how Sage Jada-Bharata was swaying left and right, which irritated the king very badly. Upon questioning Sage Jada-Bharata for his haphazard way of carrying the carriage, Sge Bharata replies that he was not the person who carried King Rahuguna’s carriage! As the king was puzzled with this answer, Sage Jada-Bharata backs it up further by spinning a web between the carriage and Mother Bhoomadevi! Ultimately, Sage Bharata drove home the point that it was not “he” who carried the carriage, but it was Mother Earth or Mother Bhoomadevi who did it. This left King Rahuguna speechless and angry at the same time! 

Now as it was Sage Bharata’s turn to question the king, he grabbed this opportunity to mount more and more questions to King Rahuguna! He continues thus, “Oh King Rahuguna! Do you understand your mistake here? What did you ask me? Who lifted the carriage in an improper fashion, isn’t it? There is a huge mistake in the way your question is formed! Even before this, you had told me that I was well-nourished! How did you say that? Upon looking at my face? Or upon looking at my arms and legs? Or upon looking at my “Atman”? Or upon understanding how I was in my previous birth, as compared to how I look today? So your narratives and questions do not stand any value to me, and you do not know what you’re asking!” 

This left the king even more speechless! Every word that the king spoke is being negated by Sage Bharata here. First, the king had told him that he was well-built and well-nourished! Sage Bharata negated that as well! Second, the king had asked, why isn’t he carrying the coach properly! Sage Bharata negated that he was not carrying it at all! With all of these, King Rahuguna slowly started realizing that this person standing in front of him was not an ordinary person by any means! He was a great “Vedanti”! A “Vedanti” is a person who is an expert in all aspects of “Vedanta”. Normally in today’s scenario, a person gets this “title” called “Vedanti” if he / she talks about something that nobody understands! 🙂 We must have seen it in our day-to-day life as well isn’t it? If we talk about something that the other person doesn’t understand, immediately the other person would ask us “Oh! Why are you talking all Vedantic stuff? Talk something that we would understand!” This is exactly what King Rahuguna was thinking here! As he listened to Sage Bharata’s response thus, what would King Rahuguna reply back? 

King Rahuguna immediately got down from the coach and stood in front of Sage Jada-Bharata. He now asks Sage Jada-Bharata thus, “Oh! Who are you? Where are you from? Why are you asking such riddle-like questions? Your questions seem to be having a lot of deeper meaning, and I’m sure they are not outward in nature. There’s surely something behind your questions! You’re not an ordinary person by any means. So tell me who you are! What made you come here?” Thus, the crux of King Rahuguna’s reply was a set of three questions importantly here – Who are you? What have you come here for? Where are you from? As Sage Bharata listens to the king’s questions, he bursts out laughing! Sage Bharata laughed out loud for a few seconds, and replied back thus, “Oh King Rahuguna! I had just now asked you a set of questions, and now you’re again asking yet another set of stupid questions! Please remember one thing – Never ever ask these three questions to anybody else in this world!” 

As King Rahuguna listened to this reply, he couldn’t understand anything again! Normally whenever we see someone new, we would ask only these three questions, isn’t it? First is, who are you! Second is where are you from and the third is what is the purpose behind your visit! For instance, if you ask me these three questions, I would reply back saying that I’m Jeayaram, I’m here to write about Shri Vishnu Puraana and I’m from Chennai, India. However, Sage Jada-Bharata thinks otherwise here – He says that we should never ask these three questions to anybody whom we see! Why is that so? It is because, as per Sage Bharata, to whomever in this world we ask these three questions, we would get the same reply! 

Now what is this “same reply” going to be? An absorbing and a fascinating reply awaits us in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed a very interesting juncture on the “Jada-Bharata-Upaakyaanam”, wherein King Rahuguna is trying to initiate a heated conversation with Sage Jada-Bharata for not carrying his carriage properly. Little did King Rahuguna know that he was talking with a highly spiritual soul, who was constantly in bliss, although he was roaming here and there by being a laughing stalk for everyone around! King Rahuguna mixed aggression with sarcasm and insults Sage Jada-Bharata that even though he was well-built and nourished, he wasn’t having the “strength” to carry the carriage properly. He threatened Sage Jada-Bharata to beat him with the stick as well, if he’s not going to execute his duty properly. As King Rahuguna was fuming with anger and frustration, he was awaiting a response from Sage Jada-Bharata, which initially did not happen, as expected. This made King Rahuguna even more furious and he repeated his question with more anger. 

Finally as the king asked him multiple times, Sage Jada-Bharata retorted back with a sharp, yet unexpected reply! Instead of directly answering the king, Sage Jada-Bharata asked a counter question thus, “Oh King Rahuguna! You had just said that I’m fat, well-nourished, etc. Can you explain the meaning of fatness? What is the meaning of being well-nourished?” Upon hearing this from Sage Jada-Bharata, King Rahuguna didn’t understand anything for a moment! His head went into a spin! He didn’t expect such a counter question from this person, whom he imagined to be totally dumb! Now it was totally Sage Jada-Bharata’s turn to plummet the king with questions. As King Rahuguna couldn’t understand what to reply to such a blunt question, Sage Bharata continued thus, “Oh King! You had mentioned that I had not carried your carriage properly, isn’t it? First of all, who told you that I was carrying your carriage? To be very frank, I was not at all carrying the carriage! If that is the case, how do you blame me for the mishap? On what basis do you do so?” 

This made King Rahuguna stand there like a pillar, without knowing what to answer! Of course, he quickly understood that these are not ordinary questions (although they sounded pretty ordinary and childish), but there were some deeper meanings attached to what this gentleman was asking! However, the ego of King Rahuguna drove over him completely. He got more furious and shouted angrily at Sage Bharata thus, “Oh fool! What are you blabbering? It is me who appointed you as the fourth person to carry my carriage. Here you are, standing with all your well-nourished body near the fourth corner of the carriage. If you had not carried it, who else did that then? Why are you trying to bluff to me like this? Do you know the repercussions of what your answers are?” 

As the king angrily asked thus, Sage Jada-Bharata calmly replied again with the same answer, but with some rephrasing and a bit of sarcasm attached to it! In fact, Sage Jada-Bharata was giving King Rahuguna the taste of his own medicine here! We’ve to remember that King Rahuguna tried to sarcastically insult Sage Jada-Bharata, however, it is now time for Sage Bharata to give him back with interest! He replies to King Rahuguna thus, “Oh king! I hope you understand the language in which I’m talking with you right now! I hope you’re not dumb enough! I’m saying for the second time now – I’ve not carried your carriage! In fact, to go one step further, please understand that I’ve never carried anything in my life so far! Please understand – The carriage of yours was carried by the beautifully decorated handle that is there on all four sides. This handle was carried by my shoulder. My shoulder is being carried by the upper portion of my physical body. This upper portion of my body is being carried by my thighs and knees. My thighs and knees are carried by my legs. My legs are carried by Mother Bhoomadevi from below! So ultimately, your carriage was carried by none other than Goddess Bhoomadevi, and not me! So if you have a problem with the carrying part, please ask her, and not me!” 

What an answer this is! King Rahuguna was caught clearly on the wrong foot! He did not expect such a reply ever! In fact, Sage Jada-Bharata had outsmarted King Rahuguna so easily with just one answer! This answer was enough to send King Rahuguna into a deep thought process! Now what was King Rahuguna’s response to this? Is he going to continue his aggressive streak or is he going to stop right there and introspect what Sage Bharata is telling him? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the “Jada-Bharata-Upaakyaanam”, wherein Sage Jada-Bharata is now going to get in touch with King Rahuguna. We’ve witnessed yesterday that King Rahuguna, who is the local king of that area, being a spiritually oriented person, is preparing himself to meet Sage Kapila to clear off some doubts that he had in his mind. Thus, he decides to set off with his long journey to Sage Kapila’s place. As the king got into his carriage, there were three men to lift it and take him to the destination. However, there was a need for one more person to lift the carriage, and at this point in time, Sage Jada-Bharata was passing by. Immediately upon casting a look on Sage Jada-Bharata’s tall and well-built body, King Rahuguna decided that he’s going to be the fourth man to lift the carriage! LIttle did the king know that he was employing a highly spiritual soul into such a low-level task. Little did the king realize that he was going to insult a great “Mahatma”. 

As the ministers approached Sage Jada-Bharata with this proposal, he just nodded his head, without even knowing what he was nodding his head for! As we know, Sage Jada-Bharata was a totally aloof person, with zero understanding of what is going around him. Accordingly, Sage Jada-Bharata’s nod was taken as a positive sign by the ministers and subsequently they placed the heavy carriage on his shoulders. The beauty here is that, even at this stage Sage Jada-Bharata did not understand what was going on! He was just walking as if he’s simply wandering around in the usual way. Little did he realize that it was the king sitting on top, inside the carriage. Sage Jada-Bharata was swaying here and there and eventually the king started feeling uncomfortable. As this was continuing for a while, the king got furious. He thus fumed in anger towards the men who were carrying the carriage thus, “Oh people! Why are you carrying the carriage in such a haphazard manner? I’m feeling extremely uncomfortable sitting inside! Who is that person swaying here and there?” 

As King Rahuguna questions harshly thus, the three other men squarely put the blame on Sage Jada-Bharata. They immediately replied to the king thus, “Oh King Rahuguna! You had picked up this fourth fellow to carry your carriage isn’t it? It is this fellow who is wreaking all the havoc. It is not because of the three of us. We’re carrying you in a normal way only, however, this fourth fellow is the one who is swaying irresponsibly here and there, as if he is drunk! Perhaps you’ve selected the wrong person for this job!” As King Rahuguna heard this from the three men, he immediately ordered them to stop and keep the carriage down. He wanted to get down from the carriage and give some thrashing to the fourth person. King Rahuguna came out of the carriage and advanced towards Sage Jada-Bharata swiftly! Upon seeing Sage Jada-Bharata being tall and well-built, King Rahuguna took up a stick in his hand while advancing forward. As he nears Sage Jada-Bharata, King Rahuguna asks thus, “Oh stupid fellow! Don’t you even know how to carry a carriage properly? You look well-nourished and well-built, isn’t it? What is the problem with you? I guess you need some beatings to set things right! Perhaps you’ve not been fed properly for the past four days! Do you need some food? Or, do you need some beatings with this heavy stick?” 

With these words, Sage Rahuguna tried to poke into Sage Jada-Bharata and was awaiting a reaction from him! The king purposefully mixed anger and sarcasm together as he addressed Sage Jada-Bharata. Ultimately, King Rahuguna wanted to insult Sage Jada-Bharata very badly in front of the entire set of people. So did King Rahuguna succeed in his attempt? Was he able to invoke a response from Sage Jada-Bharata? If so, what was the response? Let’s wait till the next episode to continue further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the rebirth of Sage Bharata in a human form once again as Bharata – 2.0. This time, Sage Bharata was more steadfast and determined unlike before. In fact, he was steadfast and determined during his previous birth as well, barring for that little episode of the deer and how he eventually got carried away by it. However, that small blemish and slip is not going to be there this time. He is more resolute and meticulous in his approach and is in such a state now wherein nothing in this world is going to be interesting for him. As Sage Bharata was roaming around from one place to the other, not even knowing where and why was he going to that place, people eventually started making fun of him. Some of them abused him physically and verbally, but all these never entered into Bharata’s ears. He just turned dead ears to all what people were calling him or asking him. He was totally into his zone and is never going to come to this world again. 

In fact, when people were abusing and making fun of Sage Bharata that he is a crazy person, and is like a “Jada” (non-living being), Sage Bharata thought within himself thus, “Oh wow! Who is crazy here? Me or they? I’m able to see Bhagawan in front of me all the time, but they’re seeing everything else except Bhagawan all the time!” We can understand the point here, isn’t it? Most of the time, normal people like us are thinking of everything else except Bhagawan, whereas highly realized souls like Sage Jada Bharata aren’t thinking of anything else in this world except Bhagawan. Now who is crazy here? We or Sage Bharata? It is upto us to decide for ourselves! 🙂 

As Sage Jada-Bharata was walking thus, one day, people thought of making a ploy and killing him. Few miscreants approached Sage Jada Bharata with the sword that they had picked up from a nearby Kali Temple and tried to chop off his head. We’re seeing here that such miscreants existed even at those earlier time periods as well! Now of course, we’re witnessing sad and unfortunate incidents of “Saadhus” or great saints being murdered by some anti-social elements in the society and this is becoming a regular affair. However, in those days also, such things have existed and this is one example of it. Thus, when Sage Jada Bharata was being subjected to such a cruel treatment by few anti-social elements, with the divine grace of Mother Kali, the sword turned into a beautiful garland and fell around his neck. Shocked by this happening, the miscreants were scared to death and started running for their life! They realized that this person is not an ordinary wandering soul, but is someone special. This news spread like wildfire amidst the people and finally reached the local king of that region. 

Readers might be remembering that I had spoken a brief about this local king earlier, and now the context of discussion shifts to this king, by name Rahuguna. This King Rahuguna was also a spiritually oriented person and had special interests in spiritual affairs. Thus, one day, King Rahuguna had certain doubts with regards to certain spiritual matters, and he wanted to get them clarified from the few sages whom he knew. The sages were none other than Sages Gaikwa and Sage Kapila. Thus, King Rahuguna decides to set out of his palace and reach out to these two sages, so that he can sit with them and clarify all his doubts. Now this is the start point of the story to become more comical, and I’m sure all of us are going to have a good laugh by the end of this story! 🙂 

Thinking thus, King Rahuguna gets on to his carriage and sits. In those days, kings used to travel from one place to the other in a carriage that would be carried by four to five men on their shoulders. In that way, King Rahuguna was all set to commence his journey. The king is ready – Fair enough! But there weren’t sufficient people to lift his carriage and take him to his destination! The king was looking around and was able to find three people for the task. However, he was unable to find a fourth person who could lift the carriage. It was the same time that Sage Jada Bharata was passing by, carried away in his own world. As Sage Jada-Bharata was passing by, the king’s eyes fell on him and upon seeing Sage Jada-Bharata being tall and well-built, the king decided that he would be the right person to lift the carriage from the fourth end. Hence, he asked his servants to bring Sage Jada-Bharata to the king and to assign him the task. 

Accordingly, Sage Jada Bharata was brought to the king and was briefed on the task. Now comes an interesting twist in events – Sage Jada Bharata, being a highly realized soul, could have easily rejected the king’s instruction, given his stature of being what he is. However, as we know – Sage Jada Bharata was totally aloof to what was happening around him, he just went with the flow. In other words, without even knowing what he was doing, he nodded his head to the king’s words. Thus, one end of the carriage rested on his shoulders! 

What happened next is something very interesting for all of us to know! Let’s wait for the next episode to witness the same! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important and a pertinent point when it comes to taking rebirths. We’ve witnessed how Sage Bharata was a victim of one small “Paapa-Karma” of not thinking of Bhagawan while passing away, and that, he had to take a rebirth as a deer, which was in his thoughts during the previous birth. Of couse, for this small mistake of his, Bhagawan did not punish him with a full birth of a deer. It was just for a few years and subsequently he had the opportunity of taking another birth as a human being – As a sage again! This is where we had witnessed how children who experience premature deaths should be hailed as great “Mahatmas”, because they might have done so because of some small “Paapa Karmas” that they might have accummulated towards the end of their previous birth. Thus, rather than feeling sad about it, we should feel proud if we would have had such children in our families. 

Moving on now with the story of Sage Bharata – As we’ve witnessed earlier, Sage Bharata was extremely fortunate to take a quick rebirth as a great Sage once again. Now we’re going to witness the advent of “Bharata – 2.0”! 🙂 How is Bharata 2.0 going to be? What is that change we’re going to witness in him this time? This time, he is not going to make that same mistake that he did the last time. He was more resolute this time. Interestingly he had the same name as Bharata again, like the previous birth. But now, this Bharata is going to be transformed into “Jada-Bharata”. How is this transformation going to happen? Let’s look on! As Bharata takes the new birth thus, he was totally aloof right from day one! Nothing in this world seemed to interest him at all. All he was interested in was to do penance without any form of disturbance. He was so aloof this time that even if someone comes near him and talks with him, he wouldn’t open his mouth and reply. Even if someone asks him a question, he wouldn’t reply. Even if someone hits him with a stick or slaps him with the hand, he wouldn’t respond! He was totally into a zone of his, and nothing in this world seem to disturb him now! During the previous birth, we had witnessed how he had got carried away by the deer, but now, nothing is going to carry him away! His resolution knew no bounds! 

Being thus in his own territory of thoughts about Bhagawan, this Bharata is going around to many places, not even knowing where is he going and why is he going! Thus, as people started seeing him walking in such an aloof manner, they started calling him a “Jada”! The word “Jada” normally is used to indicate a non-living object, but people are referring him as “Jada”. It is because Bharata was roaming around as if a non-living object was being carried away by the wind. Thus, as years progressed by, he was referred to as “Jada-Bharata”. Even when people were making fun of him by calling him as “Jada-Bharata”, he was totally ignorant of it! He didn’t even realize that people were making fun of him. Such was the level of aloofness that he was into! This is where, we might sometimes think that those people who are like this, might be mad or crazy – But it actually is not. We should remember that those people who are in their own world, are mostly in the world of bliss! Highly realized souls are normally this way – Wandering around without any reaction to anything that is happening around them. Initially we might tend to brand them as crazy, but we should realize the significance behind them. Many people even do some unfortunate things like hurting them with stones, physically and verbally abusing them, etc. We should remember that all these are in no way going to affect them, but one thing is for sure – By hurting or abusing a Bhaagawatha, (in this case, a highly realized spiritual soul), we’re entering into the greatest “danger zone” of Bhagawan! We’ve already witnessed in our previous episodes as to how ruthless Bhagawan is, when it comes to abusing Bhaagawathas or Bhagawan’s ardent devotees. If we end up hurting or branding such people as crazy and mad, and thereby abusing them, we’ve to be prepared to get the highest order of punishment from Bhagawan. 

Thus, the transformation happened – From Bharata 1.0 (Sage Bharata) to Bharata 2.0 (Jada-Bharata). Now we’re going to witness a very interesting story after this point, wherein the king of a nearby place is going to come in contact with this Jada-Bharata. We shall wait till the next episode to commence this important discussion. So for today, let us understand and experience this important transformation, and wait for an even more absorbing episode tomorrow! Stay tuned! 🙂  

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We’re amidst an enthralling section of the “Jada-Bharata-Upaakhyaanam”, wherein we’ve witnessed how Sage Bharata was caught up in his own trap of having an attachment or possessiveness towards the deer. Ultimately we’ve witnessed that Sage Bharata was overly concerned about the deer and when he breathed his last, his mind was full of thoughts about the deer’s welfare. Because of this, Sage Bharata had to take a rebirth as a deer itself. This is where we had witnessed a couple of important messages throughout the past couple of episodes – First one is that, we would take a rebirth only according to the thoughts we have at the time when we breathe last. Bhagawan Krishna Himself has established this fact in His Bhagawad Gita. Secondly, in the course of yesterday’s episode, we had witnessed the stark contrasting differences between a “Bhakta” and a “Sharanagata”. Whereas, a “Bhakta” is dominated by the “I” attitude throughout the journey of exhibiting Bhakti, the “Sharanagata” is confident that by surrendering to Bhagawan’s lotus feet, it is His duty to take us to Vaikunta or Moksha. Unfortunately, we had witnessed how Sage Bharata got into the first classification and had to take a rebirth as a deer. 

Moving on further thus, Sage Bharata – The deer took birth and spent just a few years in the world. Post that, he passed away as a deer and once again with the grace of Bhagawan, he was able to take another rebirth as a human being and most importantly as a sage again! How fortunate one can be – To take a rebirth as a sage again? Because of his truckloads of “Tapas” and the strength that is associated with it, Sage Bharata was able to achieve a rebirth as a sage again. At this point, Sage Paraashara explains a very important point to all of us here – We might have seen some small children dying at a tender age of say 3 or 4 or 5. Some kids die even when they are just months old. Or, some die even while inside the mother’s womb. Why is this happening? There is a big narrative behind this. We’ve previously witnessed during our discussion on the “Naraka Lokha” as to how Bhagawan and Yama-Dharma-Raja keep exact accounts of all our “Paapas” and “Punyas” (Good and bad deeds) and decide our subsequent births and punishments accordingly. But now, there might be some peculiar cases here – There might be some people who might have done all “Punyas” throughout their lifetime, however, due to some unforeseen or compelling reason, they might have committed a small “Paapa” to someone. Bhagawan obviously has to punish them for this “Paapa” as per the rulebook. However, Bhagawan thinks thus, “Oh! All through these years this fellow has committed only “Punya Karmas” and just for this small mistake, should we make him experience another full birth and undergo the entire cycle once again?” Thinking thus, Bhagawan gives this person a small birth of a very little span, perhaps with all possible sickness or whatever might plague the living condition of this person. Within just a few months or years, Bhagawan might even pave the way for this child to finish off with this birth too, so that the “Paapa Karma” is washed away. Once again these people would take a rebirth to experience all the fruits of their good deeds that they had committed in their previous birth. 

Thus, we should understand here that those people who’ve had short lifespans are actually equivalent to “Mahatmas” or “Spiritually realized souls”. They’ve been doing all the right things at all times during their previous birth. Somehow or the other, they might have slipped off for a very small moment, and this would have resulted in their short tenured birth. The reason why I’m narrating this accord here is that, Sage Bharata too was exactly the same case – Since he had just committed that one mistake of not thinking of Bhagawan during his last breath, he had to take a rebirth of a deer, however, that didn’t last very long. It was just for a short period of time, and eventually he again took a rebirth as a great sage! 

So from today, we should realize that those who’ve had very short lifespans are great “Mahatmas”, who have just come to this world to empty their miniscule “Paapa Karma”. In fact, if we’ve had such people in our families, we should be proud of it. Of course, there would be that sadness for the parents of this child, but all what I’m trying to say here is that, the parents who’ve had such experiences should consider themselves extremely fortunate that Bhagawan had given an opportunity to be the parent of such a great “Mahatma”, even if it is for a short duration of time. So for today, let us realize this point and let us wait till the next episode to witness how the “New Bharata” or “Bharata – 2.0” is going to be! An absorbing episode awaits us tomorrow! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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We are at a critical juncture as part of the “Jada-Bharata-Upaakhyaanam”, wherein Sage Bharata had passed away with deep concerns and thoughts about his pet deer that he was maintaining all these years. Unfortunately for him, as per Bhagawan’s “rules and regulations”, Sage Bharata took a re-birth as a deer! This is where we had witnessed an important life lesson for all of us that we would take rebirth only as per our thought processes during our last breath of this current birth. In fact, in due course of the previous episode, we had also witnessed the difference between two categories of people – The “Bhaktas” and the “Sharanagatas”. “Bhaktas” are those who have a selfish attitude behind whatever they do. They think that it is only because of their constant efforts, they are able to attain Bhagawan. However, the “Sharanagatas” are exactly the opposite. Their thought process is that it is only Bhagawan’s divine grace that can take us to “Moksha”, and our efforts are just a miniscule cause for this. Sage Bharata belonged somewhere to the first category, and the only problem with the “Bhaktas” is that, since the “I” attitude and “ego” prevails more, there is every chance that they would end up deviating from their spiritual pursuit at a time when it matters the most. This is exactly what happened to Sage Bharata as well, and this is how he ended up taking birth as a deer. 

Moving on further, we might have a small question here – If we are becoming a “Sharanagata”, don’t we need to possess “Bhakti” towards Bhagawan? If Bhagawan is going to take us directly to Moksha, why at all should we possess Bhakti in the first place? The answer here is “Yes”. A “Sharanagata” requires to possess Bhakti, but there is a difference between a “Bhakta” exhibiting Bhakti and a “Sharanagata” exhibiting Bhakti. What is the difference? A “Bhakta” who is exhibiting “Bhakti” is of the constant attitude that it is only through exhibiting this “Bhakti” that he / she is going to attain “Moksha”. However, the “Sharanagata’s” definition of “Bhakti” is very different – This “Bhakti” is useful for the “Sharanagata” to devote himself or herself more towards Bhagawan by involving himself / herself in selfless service towards Bhagawan. Of course, this “Bhakti” exhibited by the “Sharanagata” is not going to take him / her to “Moksha”, but this “Bhakti” enables the “Sharanagata” to get more and more closer to Bhagawan emotionally and through physical service towards Bhagawan, such as going to the temple, submitting flowers and other spiritual offerings to Him, etc. This is the biggest difference between the “Bhakta” and the “Sharanagata”. 

In fact, Bhagawan Himself exclaims thus, “If a person is merely a “Bhakta”, I leave it to him or her to decide the path to attain “Moksha”. If they succeed in their path, fair enough! I welcome them to my abode! However, if they fail and take a wrong path, I would not be able to stop them and resurrect their path again! Whereas, in the case of the “Sharanagata”, the moment my devotee surrenders to my feet, it becomes totally my responsibility to guide him / her along the path of attaining “Moksha”. If a devotee surrenders to me wholeheartedly, I myself would come down and take him / her to my abode!” Such is the significance of a “Sharanagata” over a “Bhakta”. Hence the important message from this episode and the previous one too is that, it is not wrong to be a “Bhakta”, provided we would be able to walk the path towards “Moksha” without any deviation. This is the “trick of the trade” here. For normal people like us, it is very difficult to walk the path by ourselves. If spiritually advanced people like Sage Bharata himself can get carried away with the worldly attachment towards the deer, who are we to even talk about perfection in this route? This is why, being a “Sharanagata” is always a better choice, as we can be rest-assured that Bhagawan would hold our hands and take us to “Moksha”. 

So for today, let us once again re-experience this thought and learning and we shall wait till the next episode to continue with what happened to Sage Bharata after this. I’m going a bit slowly here, because these are some important life learnings that all of us have to understand deeply and for these learnings to sink in, we need some time. Hence, let us allow these learnings to sink within us for today, and we shall wait afresh till tomorrow for moving ahead with the transformation of “Bharata” to “Jada-Bharatra”! Stay tuned! 🙂

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In the previous episode, we had been at an important juncture wherein Sage Bharata was caught off guard by the deer, and with that, he lost the thin line of difference between compassion and attachment. He probably went a bit overboard in his affection and concern towards the little deer that he totally forgot about his penance and spiritual progress henceforth. He was totally after the deer in such a way that only if the deer ate something, he would eat. Only if the deer drank water, he would drink. Only if the deer slept, he would go to bed. Thus, in all ways, he became so attached and identified himself only with that deer. It so happened that as age was catching up with him fast, he even started having thoughts that who would take care of the deer if he passed away! Such was the attachment Sage Bharata had towards the deer. Thus, in due course of the last episode, we had witnessed the thin line of difference between compassion and attachment. Of course, we should be kind and compassionate towards other fellow living beings, but that should not go into a state wherein we start totally associating ourselves with those living beings. We should be able to draw the thin line of difference here. This is the important message that we learn out of this part of the “Jada-Bharata-Upaakhyaana”.

Moving on further thus, as days progressed, Sage Bharata was getting older and with his old age, he was more and more concerned about the deer, rather than thinking of Bhagawan at this stage. Finally when the time came, Sage Bharata passed away with his thoughts fully on the deer! We’ve to understand one important point here – There are two important categories of people who are devotees of Bhagawan. The first category of people are called “Bhaktas” and the second category of people are referred to as “Sharanagatas”. Now what is the difference between these two people, and where do we fit Sage Bharata here? The first category of people – “Bhaktas” are those who have the thought process thus, “Oh! If I’ve to attain Bhagawan, I should put forward the requisite effort towards spiritual progress, and it is only with my consistent efforts, I’m attaining Bhagawan!” This method of attaining Bhagawan is often referred to as “Saadhyopaayam” in our Sanaatana Dharma literature. Whereas the thought process of a “Sharanagatha” is thus, “Oh! I’m in such a state that I’m not going to attain Bhagawan with any of my efforts. Let Him take me to Vaikunta with His divine grace and compassion! All I can do here is to make myself eligible for His grace. Rest is His!” 

We might be able to see a gross difference in attitude in both these categories here isn’t it? The “Bhakta” has an “I” attitude and a sense of pride in whatever he / she is doing, whereas a “Sharanagata” is a person who leaves everything to Bhagawan and surrenders onto His feet completely without any expectation. Of course, both are good paths of “Bhakti-Maarga” without any doubt, but there is only a small problem with the “Bhakta” here – If we have the “I” attitude raging within us a bit more, we are prone to deviate from the Bhakti-Maarga easily. It is like walking on a knife-edge and at any point in time, we might deviate and fall down the wrong path. The compounding problem to this is that, as we are deviating from the spiritual path, whatever we think about during our last breath, would be the one in which we manifest ourselves in our next birth as well! For instance, as a Bhakta, if we think of Bhagawan while we’re at our death bed, we would be able to reach Vaikunta safely without any hassles. However, the problem comes when we start deviating, and this exactly is what happened to Sage Bharata here. Since he was in deep thinking about the deer as he was on his deathbed, his next birth was designed to be born as a deer itself! 

Bhagawan Krishna explains this phenomenon beautifully in the Bhagawad Gita as well thus: 

“Yam yam vaapi smaranbhaavantyajaavante kalevaram!

Tam tameiti kaunteya sadaa tath bhaava bhaavitaha!!”

Here, Bhagawan Krishna explains clearly to Arjuna that whatever we think about during our last breath, we would take birth in our next birth exactly the same as what we were thinking at that time. Hence, we’ve to be very careful here. This is a very important learning for all of us, and this is why we always keep emphasizing that we’ve to develop the habit of thinking of Bhagawan all the time, irrespective of whatever we keep doing. Because, if we’ve to think of Bhagawan during our last times, it would not be possible overnight. All our family members, our pets, our properties, our money, etc. would be running in our mind at that time, which are totally useless at that point in time. If we’ve to be able to brush aside all of it and think of Bhagawan during that stage, we’ve to start practising it now, and this is why it is very important to have Bhagawan’s thoughts throughout, so that it would become a habit for us at our later stages. 

So for today, let us understand this point very clearly, and let us wait till the next episode to witness what happened to “Bharata – the deer”! Now, Bharata has passed away with the thought of the deer, and he’s now going to take re-birth as a deer itself! An absorbing episode awaits us tomorrow to narrate what conspired after this! Stay tuned! 🙂

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In the previous episode, we had commenced the next set of events that took place after the creation of the Jambu-Dveepa and the seven different “Varshas”. We’ve witnessed that Aagneetra initially was at the helm of affairs in the Jambu-Dveepa, and further it was passed over to his son by name Naabi. Further, it went to Naabi’s son, Rishabha Deva and further on to Bharata. However, Bharata was a great sage by nature and all he was interested in was doing immense penance. We’re in the midst of witnessing an interesting set of events that conspired in the life of this Bharata. As we’ve seen yesterday, as Bharata was in his deep penance one fine day, there was a pregnant deer that had come to the nearby river bank to consume water. This pregnant deer was spotted by an angry and a ferocious lion, which decided to feast on this deer. Thus, the lion started giving the deer a chase. During the chase, the pregnant deer gave birth to a little one and the little one dropped on the ground. The female deer ran for its life, not even noticing its baby fallen on the ground. Bharata was watching all of this as he was disturbed off his penance by all these events. Concerned for the baby deer’s life, Bharata quickly got up from his “Aasana” (Seat), ran towards it, picked it up and brought it to his hamlet. 

Thus, Bharata had the baby deer alongside him and he tried going into penance again. However, what happened here is something that he himself didn’t expect – He started getting attached towards that little deer so much that he started to feed it, made sure that the deer was comfortable, and whenever the deer went out to roam in the open, he was extremely worried whether it would come back to the hamlet safe. Thus, Bharata started following the deer wherever it went – Just to make sure that other wild animals like lions, leopards, etc. do not attack it. Thus, over time, this compassion towards the deer became a great source of worldly attachment to Bharata. Initially it all started with compassion towards a poor animal, but it transformed into attachment. At one stage, he started totally associating himself with the deer, in such a way that his spiritual practices and penance were completely forgotten. He entered into a stage wherein only when the deer consumed food, he would consume food. Only when the deer drank water, he would drink water. Only when the deer sleeps, he would sleep! This became a routine and his attachment towards the deer was only increasing every passing day.  Days and years progressed by, and as Bharata advanced in age, he even started to have worries that after his death, who would take care of this deer! Such was Bharata’s attachment towards the little deer. 

This is where, we’ve to be careful too. We’ve to be able to draw the line between compassion and attachment. Being compassionate towards living beings is never wrong, and in fact, all of us should be. However, this compassion should not go into possessiveness and attachment in the long run. Bhagawan Krishna Himself explains this point clearly in the Bhagawad Gita – He explains that the root cause of all these transformations is the human mind. If the mind is going to get attached and over-possessive about someone or something, it is going to be the worst enemy of mankind and thus, is going to push us towards the path of destruction. Thus, an attached mind is the greatest enemy of a person. Whereas, the same mind, if we’re able to maintain detachment from worldly affairs, yet being compassionate towards other fellow beings, is the greatest friend to a person. Bhagawan Krishna clearly explains thus: 

“Aatmaivahyaatmano bandhuhu aatmaiva ripuraatmanaha!”

This is exactly where Bharata is also getting entangled. He has been carried away by the over-attachment towards the deer, to such an extent that he had completely forgotten the very purpose of his life. If such is the case for a highly realized sage, where are we? This is where we’ve to think and act wisely. Now, moving on with the event further, one fine day, Bharata passes away due to his age, and he passes away with his thoughts immersed in the welfare of this deer that he was possessing. 

For today, let us understand the event till this point, and let us also realize the significance of detachment. We should first realize that there is a thin line of difference between compassion and detachment, and this story of Jada-Bharata is a perfect example to illustrate the same. Now what is going to happen to Bharata after this? Let’s wait for an absorbing episode tomorrow to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂