Continued
From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/06/srimadh-bagawatham-jata-bharatar-part-2.html
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| bhaktiyogavision.com |
King Rahugunan was on his way through the very same
highway where Jata Bharatar was resting under a tree. The king was on his way
to seek an Acharyan to teach him about the atma. The king was travelling on a
palanquin. The fourth palanquin bearer fell sick and the king was forced to
travel with three palanquin bearers. The company soon arrived near the tree
where Jata Bharatar was resting. The chief of the Palanquin bearers looked at
the well decorated Jata Bharatar and seeing that he was a healthy man hired
Jata Bharathar as the fourth palanquin bearer. Jata Bharatar had not cast away
the clothes and jwellery forced upon him by the men who had planned to
sacrifice him. As Jata Bharatar did not care about his body, he did not give
importance to his clothings. Whether rags or rich silk cloth, it was all the
same to Jata Bharatar. Because of his well decorated appearance, the king and
his men did not realize that Jata Bharatar was a gnani. As they started to
proceed, Jata Bharathar saw a swarm of ants. He avoided stepping on the
ants. On a day to day basis, unknowingly
we kill thousands of organisms. While walking we step on arganisms like ants,
we swat flies, and even while breathing we kill organisms. The shastras
prescribe the expiatory rite of vaisvadevam to free us of the sins accumulated
by killing these organisms. We are asked to look at the ground while walking
and step over the insects without harming them. Jata Bharatar followed the
rules of non-violence prescribed in the shastras to the “t”. Therefore, he
avoided stepping on the ants. As a result the palanquin swerved and the King
hit his head on the roof.
The king ordered the palanquin to be placed on the
ground.
‘Why are you not carrying the palanquin properly?’ yelled
the king as he rubbed his head. ‘You started off properly from my palace and
the journey was smooth. What is wrong now? Why are you causing the palanquin to
jerk?’
The chief of the palanquin bearers replied, ‘the new man
is making us swerve.’
The king wanted to give the new man one more chance since
everyone takes time to get accustomed to their new job. He said, ‘carry the
palanquin properly and don’t jerk it! Walk with a steady pace.’
The company started to move and Jata Bharathar saw one
more swarm of ants. He started to jump
over the ants so as to avoid crushing them. As he jumped over the ants, the
palanquin jerked and once again the king hit his head on the roof.
The king felt severe pain. He rubbed his head. Unable to
bear the pain, he looked out of the palanquin.
The king punched Jata Bharathar and said, ‘hey fatso are
you going to walk properly or shall I hit you with a stick? You appear to be
strong, look at the others who have been carrying the palanquin for a longer
duration! Even they don’t feel tired, shame on you for feeling tired!’
Jata Bharatar felt compassion for the king. He started
speaking to the king not to avoid punishment but to help the king. He didn’t
argue with the mad men who rushed at him with their sword to kill him because
he knew that they were full of tamo and rajo gunas. Jata Bharatar knew that he
the soul could never be destroyed and was not worried about his body being
attacked by the mad men. Jata Bharatar identified Satvik tendencies in the king
and hence started to preach him about atma vidhya.
‘Who is fat?’ asked Jata Bharatar. ‘I am not fat; Iam
also not carrying your palanquin hence I don’t feel tired.’
The king came to the conclusion that Jata Bharathar was
mentally retarded.
Jata Bharatar realized that the king was puzzled and continued
to speak. ‘Hey Rajan, I am an atma. An atma is neither fat nor thin. All atmas
look alike. You meant to call my body as being fat but I am not the body. Who
were you going to hit?’
‘You!’ said the king humbly as he started to understand
that Jata Bharatar was a gnani.
‘Are you going to hit my body or my atma?’ asked Jata
Bharatar. The king looked at the physically able appearance of Jata Bharatar
with amazement. He realized that Jata Bharathar was no ordinary man.
‘I don’t feel tired because I didn’t carry you. You were
supported by the palanquin, the palanquin by my shoulder, my shoulders by my
hips, my hips by my feet and my feet by earth. Therefore take up your concerns
with earth.’
Jata Bharatar continued, ‘a tree is celebrated by people
as long as it grows tall and wide. The same tree once cut is called as wood. It
loses its previous name of “tree” once it is cut. After the wood is processed
in to a palanquin, it is not called as “wood”. People look at you and say that
the king is traveling on a palanquin but no one says that the king is being
carried on a piece of wood.’
‘Who are you? Where are you from? Why did you come here?’
asked the king.
To be continued.
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