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A Deceptive Demeanour

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sadagopaniyengar • April 13, 2003 


                            
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 IkshvAk

 

         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

 

  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, u

 

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

 

  

         



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