Miscellaneous - Religion   

Snare of attachment

CHENNAI: Liberation from the cycle of transmigration is the result of Self-knowledge coupled with constant selfless devotion to God as this enables the mind to overcome worldly attachment. But this is easier said than done because in practice there are many pitfalls. Even when the spiritual seeker is very focussed on the goal there will be impediments to his progress as a result of his Karma of previous births. King Bharata is a case in point.

In his discourse, Sri N.Veezhinathan said the Vishnu Purana elaborately discussed the rebirths of Bharata as a deer and then as Jadabharata in a pious family when he finally attained liberation to emphasise that even a man of wisdom should remain totally devoted to God to avoid getting ensnared by worldly attachments. Bharata was an emperor who had renounced power and pelf, and his kith and kin, and retired to the sacred abode, Salagrama, with the sole objective of realising the goal of liberation. Sage Parasara, who composed this Purana, told his disciple Maitreya that Bharata, who had reached the acme of Yoga and devotion, even in his dream chanted only the Divine names and that he would not utter anything else accidentally. His day-to-day life was totally God-centred which reflected in all his thoughts and actions.

Such an exalted soul happened to rescue the young one of a deer while performing his ablutions in the river. The mother had died due to the exhaustion of jumping across the river where it had gone to drink water when it had fled frightened by the roar of a lion. The fright and exertion proved fatal for the mother deer, and when the newborn floated towards him in the current, Bharata saved it, took it to his hermitage and lavished his care on the little one. His compassion transformed into overriding concern for its safety. This affected his daily spiritual practices. He, who had renounced his family without a second thought, became attached to a deer.

During his last moments the deer shed tears for him and as his last thoughts centred on it Bharata was reborn as a deer, but due to his merit remembered his previous birth. Living an austere life in seclusion the deer was reborn as a great Yogi, Jadabharata.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Cartoonscape
The Hindu Crossword 9234
Solution to Puzzle 9233
Snare of attachment
dated May 27, 1958: Flare-up in N. Africa
dated May 27, 1958: Curfew imposed in Ceylon
dated May 27, 1958: Tounchstone image
Weather

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu