Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.9.9-10

sa ca prākritair dvipada-paśubhir unmatta-jada-badhira-mūkety abhibhāshyamāno yadā tad-anurūpāni prabhāshate karmāni ca kāryamānah parecchayā karoti vishtito vetanato vā yācñayā yadricchayā vopasāditam alpam bahu mrishtam kadannam vābhyavaharati param nendriya-prīti-nimittam nitya-nivritta-nimitta-sva-siddha-viśuddhānubhavānanda-svātma-lābhādhigamah sukha-duhkhayor dvandva-nimittayor asambhāvita-dehābhimānah śītoshna-vāta-varsheshu vrisha ivānāvritāńgah pīnah samhananāńgah sthandila-samveśanānunmardanāmajjana-rajasā mahāmanir ivānabhivyakta-brahma-varcasah kupatāvrita-katir upavītenoru-mashinā dvijātir iti brahma-bandhur iti samjñayātaj-jñajanāvamato vicacāra

SYNONYMS

sah ca — he also; prākritaih — by common persons who have no access to spiritual knowledge; dvi-pada-paśubhih — who are nothing but animals with two legs; unmatta — mad; jada — dull; badhira — deaf; mūka — dumb; iti — thus; abhibhāshyamānah — being addressed; yadā — when; tat-anurūpāni — words suitable to reply to theirs; prabhāshate — he used to speak; karmāni — activities; ca — also; kāryamānah — being caused to execute; para-icchayā — by the order of others; karoti — he used to act; vishtitah — by force; vetanatah — or by some wages; vā — either; yācñayā — by begging; yadricchayā — by its own accord; vā — or; upasāditam — gotten; alpam — a very small quantity; bahu — a large quantity; mrishtam — very palatable; kat-annam — stale, tasteless foods; vā — or; abhyavaharati — he used to eat; param — only; na — not; indriya-prīti-nimittam — for the satisfaction of the senses; nitya — eternally; nivritta — stopped; nimitta — fruitive activity; sva-siddha — by self-accomplished; viśuddha — transcendental; anubhava-ānanda — blissful perception; sva-ātma-lābha-adhigamah — who has achieved knowledge of the self; sukha-duhkhayoh — in happiness and distress; dvandva-nimittayoh — in the causes of duality; asambhāvita-deha-abhimānah — not identified with the body; śīta — in the winter; ushna — in the summer; vāta — in the wind; varsheshu — in the rainfall; vrishah — a bull; iva — like; anāvrita-ańgah — uncovered body; pīnah — very strong; samhanana-ańgah — whose limbs were firm; sthandila-samveśana — from lying down on the ground; anunmardana — without any massage; amajjana — without bathing; rajasā — by dirt; mahā-manih — highly valuable gem; iva — like; anabhivyakta — unmanifested; brahma-varcasah — spiritual splendor; ku-pata-āvrita — covered by a dirty cloth; katih — whose loins; upavītena — with a sacred thread; uru-mashinā — which was highly blackish due to dirt; dvi-jātih — born in a brāhmana family; iti — thus (saying out of contempt); brahma-bandhuh — a friend of a brāhmana; iti — thus; samjñayā — by such names; a-tat-jña-jana — by persons not knowing his real position; avamatah — being disrespected; vicacāra — he wandered.

TRANSLATION

Degraded men are actually no better than animals. The only difference is that animals have four legs and such men have only two. These two-legged, animalistic men used to call Jada Bharata mad, dull, deaf and dumb. They mistreated him, and Jada Bharata behaved for them like a madman who was deaf, blind or dull. He did not protest or try to convince them that he was not so. If others wanted him to do something, he acted according to their desires. Whatever food he could acquire by begging or by wages, and whatever came of its own accord — be it a small quantity, palatable, stale or tasteless — he would accept and eat. He never ate anything for sense gratification because he was already liberated from the bodily conception, which induces one to accept palatable or unpalatable food. He was full in the transcendental consciousness of devotional service, and therefore he was unaffected by the dualities arising from the bodily conception. Actually his body was as strong as a bull's, and his limbs were very muscular. He didn't care for winter or summer, wind or rain, and he never covered his body at any time. He lay on the ground, and never smeared oil on his body or took a bath. Because his body was dirty, his spiritual effulgence and knowledge were covered, just as the splendor of a valuable gem is covered by dirt. He only wore a dirty loincloth and his sacred thread, which was blackish. Understanding that he was born in a brāhmana family, people would call him a brahma-bandhu and other names. Being thus insulted and neglected by materialistic people, he wandered here and there.

PURPORT

Śrīla Narottama dāsa Thākura has sung: deha-smriti nāhi yāra, samsāra-bandhana kāhāń tāra. One who has no desire to maintain the body or who is not anxious to keep the body in order and who is satisfied in any condition must be either mad or liberated. Actually Bharata Mahārāja in his birth as Jada Bharata was completely liberated from material dualities. He was a paramahamsa and therefore did not care for bodily comfort.

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