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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









[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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