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Sri Krishnaya Namah!

Dear Swamiji!

This article made me think about Lord Anjaneya too, as my knowledge is just 
evolving and that I read this interesting piece of information on Bharatha 
first time.

Lord Anjaneya too fit the bill as an exemplary devotee going by his very 
body language - who always seen bending in front of the Lord with clupped 
hands. Lord himself always relied on this devotee who an set example for 
humility, saranagathi and unwavering focus and attention on the Lord. I 
was given to understand that when the likes of Garuda, Bhima etc., were get 
boastful of their strengths, it was Hanuman whom the Lord relied on setting 
an example by thwarting their ahamkaram be it in Threthayuga or 
Dwaparayuga.

Net net, this is not to undermine any devotees (ofcourse I can't think of 
doing the same) but just my outpour on Lord Anjaneya who as we all know has 
been one of the starking example of a devotee with a humility (so many 
instances are there in Ramayana where this was shown) and knowledge that is 
inexplicable and hence, we have now more of Hanuman temples than Lord 
Rama's.

My humble pranams!

Sukumar

Sri Krishnaparabrahmane Namah!




-----Original Message-----
From:   sadagopaniyengar [SMTP:sadagopaniyengar@xxxx]
Sent:   13/04/2003 10:01 PM
To:     SriRangaSri; malolan_net@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; bhakti-list; tiruvengadam; 
Oppiliappan; radha jagannathan; j.srinivasan; cs.srinivasan; padmaja; 
sukanya Murali; mythily ramadesikan
Cc:     sadagopaniyengar
Subject:        A Deceptive Demeanour


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
u 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 Ma 
harshi 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
nmindful 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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