Srimadh Bagawatham - Jata Bharatar Charitram Part 5

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/06/srimadh-bagawatham-jata-bharatar_20.html

Jata Bharatar narrated the following story. “Once upon a time there was an Acharyan called as Ribhu. He had a disciple called as Nidhakar. Ribhu taught atma vidhya to Nidhakar.

‘Atma is atomic in size,’ said Ribhu. ‘All atmas look alike. The differences you see arise because of the different bodies occupied by each atma. The differences are only present for the body whereas there is equality amongst the atmas. Atma is knowledgeble and it has knowledge.’

After teaching Nidhakar, Ribhu left. Nidhakar pondered over his guru’s teachings and thus passed a thousand years. One day, Nidhagar went to the forest to collect the kusa grass. After collecting a big bundle, he entered the city limits of Sunagaram. He passed the bank of River Devika. As he entered the city limits he could hear the sound of festivities. It was the King’s birth day and the people had gathered to witness the parade. There were hundreds of horses, elephants and chariots. In the midst of the procession was a large elephant decorated from head to toe in gold. On top of a howdah placed on the back of the royal elephant sat the king. The people stood on either side of the street. Some waved flags while some threw jasmine, rose and lotus petals in the air. Nidhakar stood far away from the parade. He wanted to wait till the procession passed as he was afraid that his bundle of kusa grass and fuel wood to be used in Yagnams might lose their sanctity.

An old man approached Nidhakar. ‘Why are you standing here in solitude? Why don’t you proceed to your home?’ asked the old man.

‘I am waiting for the King’s parade to pass since I don’t want the bundle of kusa grass to lose their sanctity,’ replied Nidhakar.

‘Procession? King? What is a king?’ asked the old man.

Nidhakar looked at the old man in amazement. ‘Don’t you know the meaning of the word “king”?’ asked Nidhakar incredulously. ‘See that large royal elephant. The person sitting on top of that elephant is the king. That thing below the howdah is the elephant.’

‘What is an elephant?’

‘Wow! You don’t know what an elephant is! See that big greyish black animal with a large trunk, 2 tusks waving its ears…that’s an elephant. The king is on top of the elephant and elephant is below the king.’

‘What is top and what is below?’ came the next question.

en.wikipedia.org

Nidhakar started to feel annoyed. He lost his temper. ‘Are you telling me that you don’t know what top is and what is meant by below?’ He threw down his bundle of kusa grass, grabbed hold of the old man and pushed him to the ground. Nidhakar sat on top of the old man’s belly.

‘I am on top, you are below. Like me the king is on top and like you the elephant is below! The one below is supporting the one on top. Now you are supporting me.’

‘You said that you are on top and I am below; what is “I” and what is “you”?’ asked the old man.

Nidhakar looked in to the eyes of the old man and realized that he was looking in to the familiar eyes of his acharyan. He immediately got up and helped Ribu to his feet. Nidhakar fell at Ribu’s feet and asked to be pardoned.

‘Please forgive me! I didn’t realize that it was you. Please teach me atma vidhya once again!’

‘It has been 1000 years since you left school. For a thousand years you had been contemplating on atma vidhya but alas the knowledge cannot be attained by just contemplating about it. While in class the teacher’s words seem to make sense but it is very difficult to bring it in to practice.

‘The King’s body is being carried by the elephant’s body but one atma cannot carry another atma. I wanted to make you understand this concept and hence decided to test you today.

‘Due to its past bad karmas, the atma in the elephant’s body has taken birth as an elephant whereas the King has obtained the King’s body to spend his good karmas.’

After teaching Nidhakar, Ribu took leave of him only to return after another thousand years.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/06/srimadh-bagawatham-jata-bharatar.html

Srimadh Bagawatham - Jata Bharatar Charitram Part 4

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/06/srimadh-bagawatham-jata-bharatar_19.html

‘Who are you? Where are you from? Why did you come here?’ asked the king to Jata Bharatar.

‘Never ask these questions to anyone! I am whoever you are; we are both jeevatmas. We both came from the same place, a mother’s womb. We are here to lose our karmas. You are losing karma by sitting on top of a palanquin and me by carrying it. My body was carrying your palanquin but I the atma never carried you. One atma cannot carry another atma. Only one body can carry another body. The tiredness was felt by my body but not by me. You said you were going to punish me but you can never punish me.

The atma is different from the body. It is bound in a body per its past karmas. You see all these different bodies, ants, birds, and people but their atma is similar. Like air flowing through a flute which when it comes out of different holes in the flute makes new tunes, the atma gets different bodies based on its past karmas. There are no differences amongst the jevatmas. They are equal to each other in every way. The jeevatmas themselves are supported by Lord Narayana. He doesn’t support the jeevatmas and the Universe you see around you like a basket supporting fruits but, more like the soul supporting the body. He as the inner controller gives vitality to the jeevatmas from within. As long as one does not control the mind along with the ten sense organs, they are driven to pursue material wealth by their past karma vasanai (memory imprint of past karmas) and they get stuck in the never ending vicious cycle. They are born, die and are once again are re-born. From one body to another they keep transmigrating driven by their karmas. Their past karmas drive them to commit new karmas thus they are stuck in the never ending cycle of action and reaction. The only way out of this never ending cycle is to sacrifice false ego and look beyond the body to see the equality of the jeevatmas and to look at the Supreme Lord as their inner controller. He is the only refuge for all the jeevatmas and only by realizing Him; we can be freed from this never ending cycle. Hence treat everyone equally. You can lose your karmas only through sat sangam after which you can attain the Lord’s divine feet. The only purpose of our births is to attain the Lord’s divine feet. I will tell you a story to make it clear for you’

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/06/srimadh-bagawatham-jata-bharatar_4996.html

Srimadh Bagawatham - Jata Bharatar Charitram Part 3

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/06/srimadh-bagawatham-jata-bharatar-part-2.html

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.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/06/srimadh-bagawatham-jata-bharatar_20.html

Srimadh Bagawatham - Jata Bharatar Part 2

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/06/srimadh-bagawatham-jata-bharatar_7437.html

 

He spent his waking hours finding fresh green grass for the deer. He wouldn’t let it wander away from his eye sight. He followed it everywhere afraid that some wild beast might kill it. Even if he did not see the deer for a few seconds, he started to worry about it. He thought about the welfare of the deer even on his death bed. Thus as he died thinking about the deer, he took birth as a deer in his next life.

According to Bagawad Geetha, the last memory a person has decides the next birth which would follow death.

Bagawad Geetha, Chapter 8 Verse 6

yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.”

This rule is only for people who perform Bakthi Yoga and not for those people who have performed Saranagathi at the Lord’s divine feet. Only those Bakthi Yogins who leave their last breath thinking about the Lord reach His divine feet. Anthima Smruthi is not required for Saranagathas.

Bagawad Geetha, Chapter 8 Verse 5

anta-kale ca mam eva
smaran muktva kalevaram
yah prayati sa mad-bhavam
yati nasty atra samsayah

“The person who remembers Perumal at the time of death and quits his/her body while remembering Perumal alone, at once attains Mukthi. Of this there is no doubt.”

As Bharatar retained memory about his past birth, Bharathan remained detached from the herd as a deer and soon died. He then took birth as a Brahmin and was called as Bharatan. He once again retained memory about his past lives and hence stayed detached from life. As a child he didn’t even drink mother’s milk. His parents thought that he was under the influence of a spell and tried to cure his condition but were unsuccessful.  People mistook him to be retarded and he came to be called as Jata Bharathar.

His siblings made him sit in the field to protect the crops.  Jata Bharatar saw the Lord in the crops as well as the birds which came to peck on the grains. He didn’t shoo the birds away but yet his siblings made him sit in the crops as even if he didn’t shoo away the birds, the birds refrained from coming near the crops after seeing a human sitting amongst the crops.

One day Jata Bharatar wandered away from home. He had no idea about his destination. He walked without paying heed to the direction. He reached a region inhabited by men who worshiped Badra Kali. They were involved in gruesome anti Vedic practice of human sacrifice. They noticed that Jata Bharatar looked very able and had no deformity. They pounced on him and carried him in to the forest to a Kali temple. Jata Bharatar did not resist their attack and went with them. The men bathed Jata Bharatar, decorated him with the most expensive clothes and jwellery. Jata Bharatar realized that they were planning to sacrifice him but he wasn’t worried as his life has to end one day and if it ended soon, he could reach the Lord immediately.

The men brought Jata Bharatar in front of the idle of Kali Devi. The chief priest with the cry of terrifying war shouts grabbed a sword and rushed towards Jata Bharatar while the others stood cheering the priest playing their drums waiting eagerly to taste fresh blood.

Goddess Kali couldn’t bear to see the injustice against Jata Bharatar carried out in her name. She appeared from her idle in lightening speed with her celestial attendants. With one single blow, she felled the priest along with all the mad men gathered at her temple to witness the human sacrifice. Even after witnessing Goddess Kali, Jata Bharatar’s attitude did not change as he neither rejected pain nor embraced pleassure.  He walked away from the temple and went wherever his feet carried him. He reached a highway and sat under a tree with a smile on his face.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/06/srimadh-bagawatham-jata-bharatar_19.html