Bharata Mahārāja, at the time of death, would be forced to accept the body of a deer due to his attraction for the deer. In this regard, a question may be raised. How can a devotee be affected by his past misconduct and vicious activities? In Brahma-saḿhitā (5.54) it is said, karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājām: "For those engaged in devotional service, bhakti-bhajana, the results of past deeds are indemnified." According to this, Bharata Mahārāja could not be punished for his past misdeeds. The conclusion must be that Mahārāja Bharata purposefully became over-addicted to the deer and neglected his spiritual advancement. To immediately rectify his mistake, for a short time he was awarded the body of a deer. This was just to increase his desire for mature devotional service. Although Bharata Mahārāja was awarded the body of an animal, he did not forget what had previously happened due to his purposeful mistake. He was very anxious to get out of his deer body, and this indicates that his affection for devotional service was intensified, so much so that he was quickly to attain perfection in a brāhmaṇa body in the next life. It is with this conviction that we declare in our Back to Godhead magazine that devotees like the gosvāmīs living in Vṛndāvana who purposely commit some sinful activity are born in the bodies of dogs, monkeys and tortoises in that holy land. Thus they take on these lower life forms for a short while. and after they give up those animal bodies, they are again promoted to the spiritual world. Such punishment is only for a short period, and it is not due to past karma. It may appear to be due to past karma, but it is offered to rectify the devotee and bring him to pure devotional service.
SB 5.8.26 purport.
Srila Prabhupada explains such an important philosophy in such a simple way.
reminds me of the stanza HH JPS GM has written glorifying SP
gita-bhagavata caitanya carita
premamrta rasasara |
kata na sundara sarala kariya
ke bujhaita ara ||
Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam and Caitanya-caritamrta contain the essence
of the nectarean mellows of love of Godhead. Who else would have explained
these scriptures so clearly and beautifully?
SB 5.8.26 purport.
Srila Prabhupada explains such an important philosophy in such a simple way.
reminds me of the stanza HH JPS GM has written glorifying SP
gita-bhagavata caitanya carita
premamrta rasasara |
kata na sundara sarala kariya
ke bujhaita ara ||
Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam and Caitanya-caritamrta contain the essence
of the nectarean mellows of love of Godhead. Who else would have explained
these scriptures so clearly and beautifully?
1 comment:
From Gurumaharaj lecture
So how could Bharath maharaj get deviated like that? Because, he never consulted his guru, he never consulted anybody. He was there alone what should he do with this deer? Just like that he was rearing that deer, got so affectionate to him. He was thinking about the deer. He didn’t consult anyone, whether that was a danger or not. So may be a very small thing, or may be doing 99% great in Krsna Consciousness but their Guru may notice that there is some problem, that 1% problem can be enough to deviate us, cause us to take another birth. So the Guru’s duty is to pick out what are the defects and to give guidance so that we don’t get detoured. We don’t get off the path. That’s called, Prabhupad calls it the finishing touch.
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