Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.9.3

tatrāpi svajana-sańgāc ca bhriśam udvijamāno bhagavatah karma-bandha-vidhvamsana-śravana-smarana-guna-vivarana-caranāravinda-yugalam manasā vidadhad ātmanah pratighātam āśańkamāno bhagavad-anugrahenānusmrita-sva-pūrva-janmāvalir ātmānam unmatta-jadāndha-badhira-svarūpena darśayām āsa lokasya

SYNONYMS

tatra api — in that brāhmana birth also; sva-jana-sańgāt — from association with relatives and friends; ca — and; bhriśam — greatly; udvijamānah — being always afraid that he would fall down again; bhagavatah — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; karma-bandha — the bondage of the reactions of fruitive activities; vidhvamsana — which vanquishes; śravana — hearing; smarana — remembering; guna-vivarana — hearing descriptions of the qualities of the Lord; carana-aravinda — lotus feet; yugalam — the two; manasā — with the mind; vidadhat — always thinking of; ātmanah — of his soul; pratighātam — obstruction on the path of devotional service; āśańkamānah — always fearing; bhagavat-anugrahena — by the special mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; anusmrita — remembered; sva-pūrva — his own previous; janma-āvalih — string of births; ātmānam — himself; unmatta — mad; jada — dull; andha — blind; badhira — and deaf; svarūpena — with these features; darśayām āsa — he exhibited; lokasya — to people in general.

TRANSLATION

Due to his being especially gifted with the Lord's mercy, Bharata Mahārāja could remember the incidents of his past life. Although he received the body of a brāhmana, he was still very much afraid of his relatives and friends who were not devotees. He was always very cautious of such association because he feared that he would again fall down. Consequently he manifested himself before the public eye as a madman — dull, blind and deaf — so that others would not try to talk to him. In this way he saved himself from bad association. Within he was always thinking of the lotus feet of the Lord and chanting the Lord's glories, which save one from the bondage of fruitive action. In this way he saved himself from the onslaught of nondevotee associates.

PURPORT

Every living entity is bound by different activities due to association with the modes of nature. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, kāranam guna-sańgo 'sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu: "This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species." (Bg. 13.22)

We get different types of bodies among 8,400,000 species according to our karma. Karmanā daiva-netrena: we work under the influence of material nature contaminated by the three modes, and thus we get a certain type of body according to superior order. This is called karma-bandha. To get out of this karma-bandha, one must engage himself in devotional service. Then one will not be affected by the modes of material nature.

mām ca yo 'vyabhicārena

bhakti-yogena sevate

sa gunān samatītyaitān

brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

"One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman." (Bg. 14.26) To remain immune from the material qualities, one must engage himself in devotional service — śravanam kīrtanam vishnoh [SB 7.5.23]. That is the perfection of life. When Mahārāja Bharata took birth as a brāhmana, he was not very interested in the duties of a brāhmana, but within he remained a pure Vaishnava, always thinking of the lotus feet of the Lord. As advised in Bhagavad-gītā: man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī mām namaskuru [Bg. 18.65]. This is the only process by which one can be saved from the danger of repeated birth and death.

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