Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.9.1-2

śrī-śuka uvāca

atha kasyacid dvija-varasyāńgirah-pravarasya śama-dama-tapah-svādhyāyādhyayana-tyāga-santosha-titikshā-praśraya-vidyānasūyātma-jñānānanda-yuktasyātma-sadriśa-śruta-śīlācāra-rūpaudārya-gunā nava sodaryā ańgajā babhūvur mithunam ca yavīyasyām bhāryāyām yas tu tatra pumāms tam parama-bhāgavatam rājarshi-pravaram bharatam utsrishta-mriga-śarīram carama-śarīrena vipratvam gatam āhuh

SYNONYMS

śrī-śukah uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued to speak; atha — thereafter; kasyacit — of some; dvija-varasya — brāhmana; ańgirah-pravarasya — who came in the dynasty of the great saint Ańgirā; śama — control of the mind; dama — control of the senses; tapah — practice of austerities and penances; svādhyāya — recitation of the Vedic literatures; adhyayana — studying; tyāga — renunciation; santosha — satisfaction; titikshā — tolerance; praśraya — very gentle; vidyā — knowledge; anasūya — without envy; ātma-jñāna-ānanda — satisfied in self-realization; yuktasya — who was qualified with; ātma-sadriśa — and exactly like himself; śruta — in education; śīla — in character; ācāra — in behavior; rūpa — in beauty; audārya — in magnanimity; gunāh — possessing all these qualities; nava sa-udaryāh — nine brothers born of the same womb; ańga-jāh — sons; babhūvuh — were born; mithunam — a twin brother and sister; ca — and; yavīyasyām — in the youngest; bhāryāyām — wife; yah — who; tu — but; tatra — there; pumān — the male child; tam — him; parama-bhāgavatam — the most exalted devotee; rāja-rishi — of saintly kings; pravaram — most honored; bharatam — Bharata Mahārāja; utsrishta — having given up; mriga-śarīram — the body of a deer; carama-śarīrena — with the last body; vipratvam — being a brāhmana; gatam — obtained; āhuh — they said.

TRANSLATION

Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, after giving up the body of a deer, Bharata Mahārāja took birth in a very pure brāhmana family. There was a brāhmana who belonged to the dynasty of Ańgirā. He was fully qualified with brahminical qualifications. He could control his mind and senses, and he had studied the Vedic literatures and other subsidiary literatures. He was expert in giving charity, and he was always satisfied, tolerant, very gentle, learned and nonenvious. He was self-realized and engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. He remained always in a trance. He had nine equally qualified sons by his first wife, and by his second wife he begot twins — a brother and a sister, of which the male child was said to be the topmost devotee and foremost of saintly kings — Bharata Mahārāja. This, then, is the story of the birth he took after giving up the body of a deer.

PURPORT

Bharata Mahārāja was a great devotee, but he did not attain success in one life. In Bhagavad-gītā it is said that a devotee who does not fulfill his devotional duties in one life is given the chance to be born in a fully qualified brāhmana family or a rich kshatriya or vaiśya family. Śucīnām śrīmatām gehe (Bg. 6.41). Bharata Mahārāja was the firstborn son of Mahārāja Rishabha in a rich kshatriya family, but due to his willful negligence of his spiritual duties and his excessive attachment to an insignificant deer, he was obliged to take birth as the son of a deer. However, due to his strong position as a devotee, he was gifted with the remembrance of his past life. Being repentant, he remained in a solitary forest and always thought of Krishna. Then he was given the chance to take birth in a very good brāhmana family.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness