Finding the reason for Bharata Maharaja’s fall
The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam establishes that Kṛṣṇa is supremely merciful and that He protects His devotees, as described in many examples. However, how does the Lord protect a devotee from himself?
Subscribe to receive new articles by e-mail. It’s free, but if you like, you can pledge a donation:
The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam establishes that Kṛṣṇa is supremely merciful and that He protects His devotees. Parīkṣit was just a defenseless embryo when he was attacked by a nuclear weapon invoked by Aśvatthāmā, and the Lord manifested His transcendental form inside the womb of His mother to protect Him. The Lord also makes arrangements for His devotees to receive transcendental knowledge and thus find their way back to Him. When Dhruva Maharaja left the castle to look for the Lord in the forest, He inspired Nārada Muni from inside the heart to meet him and give Him transcendental knowledge. The Lord can also protect His devotees from accidental mistakes and offenses. When Jaya and Vijaya accidentally offended the four Kumāras, the Lord organized things so that they would not forget Him even while living for three lives as demons in the material world.
However, how does the Lord protect a devotee from himself? How does He display His mercy when a devotee intentionally neglects his or her spiritual practice, choosing to fix his mind in material objects when there is no external cause pressing him? Does the Lord allow the devotee to reap the karmic results of his actions without any support, or is he protected in some way? The pastime of Bharata Maharaja becoming a deer answers this question.
“Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, in this way Bharata Mahārāja was overwhelmed by an uncontrollable desire which was manifest in the form of the deer. Due to the fruitive results of his past deeds, he fell down from mystic yoga, austerity and worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If it were not due to his past fruitive activity, how could he have been attracted to the deer after giving up the association of his own son and family, considering them stumbling blocks on the path of spiritual life? How could he show such uncontrollable affection for a deer? This was definitely due to his past karma. The King was so engrossed in petting and maintaining the deer that he fell down from his spiritual activities. In due course of time, insurmountable death, which is compared to a venomous snake that enters the hole created by a mouse, situated itself before him.” (SB 5.8.26)
By the words sva-ārabdha-karmaṇā, Śukadeva Gosvāmī mentions that Bharata Maharaja fell due to the results of his past karma, and in his Bhakti Sandarbha, Śrīla Jīva Goswami adds that such karmic results must have been due to offenses executed in previous lives. Prabhupāda, however, mentions that Bharata Mahārāja could not be punished for his past misdeeds. He thus concludes that there was no external reason for Bharata Maharaja abandoning his practice: he purposefully became over-addicted to the deer and neglected his spiritual advancement.
This may sound like a contradiction at first, but it just shows us two levels of understanding. When the deity of Gopīnātha desired to give sweet rice to Mādhavendra Purī, He did so through the priest. In this case, the priest was the apparent cause, while the desire of the Lord was the real, or internal cause. Similarly, a great devotee such as Bharata Maharaja may externally appear to be receiving the fruits of karma or previous offenses, but in reality, everything happens due to the will of the Lord, with the ultimate purpose of bringing them back to Him.
Prabhupāda gives more examples in his purport:
“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.”
Śukadeva Gosvāmī thus indicates that the apparent cause was reactions for past actions, while Prabhupāda indicates that the real cause was Bharata becoming purposefully over-addicted to the deer and neglecting his spiritual practice, leading him to be corrected by the Lord. Sanātana Goswami adds that this purposeful negligence had the goal of showing us an instructive example, and thus we can see how these three statements fit together.
This point can also be applied to us in many circumstances. Often, we face difficulties due to our past karma, and often these difficulties cause obstacles to our spiritual practice. However, there are many obstacles that are not imposed by karma: they are the result of our own choices, a simple matter of free will. After taking shelter of the spiritual master and being initiated, we have the opportunity to continue acting under his guidance, following the precepts of the scriptures, and thus remain protected from the results of our previous karma. However, if we choose to abandon this process or if we intentionally seek distractions, we create problems for ourselves.
The absence of karma does not eliminate free will. At each moment, we have the choice of engaging ourselves in Krsna Consciousness or seeking some distraction. The cumulative result of these choices will determine what kind of body we will have next. Devotees who can achieve perfection in this life are the ones who can consistently make the right choices, engaging their attention and energy in the service of Krsna. The more we consistently make the right choices, the easier it becomes to continue being engaged in a virtuous cycle. The more we choose material distractions, however, the harder it becomes to concentrate.
In any case, a devotee can count on the reciprocation of the Lord, but if we are not serious in our practice, He may have to first rectify us, putting us in some difficult situation so we may wake up and come back to proper consciousness, just as in the case of Bharata Maharaja.
This can be summarized in this way:
a) Ordinarily, people act according to their karma, and are awarded their next body according to karma. There is always free will, but in the case of a materialist, karma is the main factor. One simply continues to act on the path set by his previous actions.
b) In the case of a devotee seriously following the spiritual process, such as Bharata Maharaja, there is no more karma. However, one can still get distracted from spiritual practice due to free will.
c) When a devotee intentionally falls from his practice due to distractions, inattention, or other factors, one can get different material results from his activities, and this may appear to be awarded according to karma. Bharata Maharaja got the body of a deer, while Citraketu got the body of a demon, for example. However, karma or destiny, in this case, is just the apparent cause. Ultimately, these results are given by the Lord according to what will be helpful for a devotee to become serious in his practice and go back to Godhead as soon as possible.
d) Sometimes, great personalities purposefully commit mistakes to instruct us on the consequences of such actions. This also happens due to the desire of the Supreme Lord to teach us.
Bharata Maharaja got distracted from the devotional path and ended being concentrated on the deer in the last part of his life. Thus, following the general karmic rules, he assumed the body of a deer. However, because of his past devotional service, He was protected by the Lord, who kept his remembrance intact, even in the body of a deer. This made Bharata again determined to finish his devotional service and go back home, back to godhead. The Lord could have protected him from the natural result of his activities, but seeing that receiving the body of a deer would be favorable in the long run, the Lord decided to keep this result, but at the same time kept his memory, giving him the conditions for realizing his mistake and quickly coming back to the path. This is yet another example of how a devotee is always protected by the Lord, even when one willingly abandons his spiritual practice.
Prabhupāda connects the situation of Bharata Maharaja with our practical reality. Even though a devotee is generally protected from the results of karma, the Lord can allow a devotee to face difficulties, so one can be corrected and return to his spiritual practice:
“This is significant for every devotee. If we misuse our position and think that we are fully engaged in devotional service and can do whatever we like, we have to suffer like Bharata Mahārāja and be condemned to accept the type of body that impairs our devotional service. Only the human form is able to execute devotional service, but if we voluntarily give this up for sense gratification, we certainly have to be punished. This punishment is not exactly like that endured by an ordinary materialistic person. By the grace of the Supreme Lord, a devotee is punished in such a way that his eagerness to attain the lotus feet of Lord Vāsudeva is increased. By his intense desire, he returns home in the next lifetime.”
In another purport, he gives one example in this direction: devotees who willingly commit sinful activities while living in Vṛndāvana often are reborn as dogs, monkeys, and tortoises. In such a birth, they can live in the holy land without the possibility of committing new sinful activities, and in this way return home, back to Godhead.
Such a punishment is thus also a form of mercy, just as in the case of Bharata Maharaja, but this doesn’t make the immediate results any less unpleasant. We are thus urged to just take the direct path and practice without deviation. As Prabhupāda explains, the secure position for someone wanting to go back home, back to Godhead in this lifetime is to see that every moment is used for rendering some form of service to the Lord.
How is this possible? We can achieve this position by connecting all our actions with Kṛṣṇa, as He explains in the Bhagavad-gītā. There are nine limbs of devotional service, starting with śravaṇam kīrtanam. Sometimes we may do some practical service, other times we may hear about Kṛṣṇa, chant, describe his glories, pray, etc., or simply remember Him. In the beginning, there may be many distractions, but if we get a little bit of taste, we can be caught in the devotional flow of just doing one devotional activity after another, day after day.
However, as this pastime of Bharata Maharaja illustrates, we should not become careless. As long as we are under the influence of material illusion, we need to always put a conscious effort to continue progressing, just as a person cast into the ocean has to make a continuous effort to stay afloat.
You can also donate using Buy Me a Coffee, PayPal, Wise, Revolut, or bank transfers. There is a separate page with all the links. This helps me enormously to have time to write instead of doing other things to make a living. Thanks!