SB 5.9.1 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

श्रीशुक उवाच अथ कस्यचिद् द्विजवरस्याङ्गिर:प्रवरस्य शमदमतप:स्वाध्यायाध्ययनत्यागसन्तोषतितिक्षाप्रश्रयविद्यानसूयात्मज्ञानानन्दयुक्तस्यात्मसद‍ृशश्रुतशीलाचाररूपौदार्यगुणा नव सोदर्या अङ्गजा बभूवुर्मिथुनं च यवीयस्यां भार्यायाम् ॥ १ ॥ यस्तु तत्र पुमांस्तं परमभागवतं राजर्षिप्रवरं भरतमुत्सृष्टमृगशरीरं चरमशरीरेण विप्रत्वं गतमाहु: ॥ २ ॥

Verse text

śrī-śuka uvāca atha kasyacid dvija-varasyāṅgiraḥ-pravarasya śama-dama-tapaḥ-svādhyāyādhyayana-tyāga-santoṣa-titikṣā-praśraya-vidyānasūyātma-jṣānānanda-yuktasyātma-sadṛśa-śruta-śīlācāra-rūpaudārya-guṇā nava sodaryā aṅgajā babhūvur mithunaṁ ca yavīyasyāṁ bhāryāyām yas tu tatra pumāṁs taṁ parama-bhāgavataṁ rājarṣi-pravaraṁ bharatam utsṛṣṭa-mṛga-śarīraṁ carama-śarīreṇa vipratvaṁ gatam āhuḥ.

Synonyms

śrī — śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued to speak ; atha — thereafter ; kasyacit — of some ; dvija — varasya — brāhmaṇa ; aṅgiraḥ — pravarasya — who came in the dynasty of the great saint Aṅgirā ; śama — control of the mind ; dama — control of the senses ; tapaḥ — practice of austerities and penances ; svādhyāya — recitation of the Vedic literatures ; adhyayana — studying ; tyāga — renunciation ; santoṣa — satisfaction ; titikṣā — tolerance ; praśraya — very gentle ; vidyā — knowledge ; anasūya — without envy ; ātma — jṣāna — ānanda — satisfied in self-realization ; yuktasya — who was qualified with ; ātma — sadṛśa — and exactly like himself ; śruta — in education ; śīla — in character ; ācāra — in behavior ; rūpa — in beauty ; audārya — in magnanimity ; guṇāḥ — possessing all these qualities ; nava sa — udaryāḥ — nine brothers born of the same womb ; aṅga — jāḥ — sons ; babhūvuḥ — were born ; mithunam — a twin brother and sister ; ca — and ; yavīyasyām — in the youngest ; bhāryāyām — wife ; yaḥ — who ; tu — but ; tatra — there ; pumān — the male child ; tam — him ; parama — bhāgavatam — the most exalted devotee ; rāja — ṛṣi — of saintly kings ; pravaram — most honored ; bharatam — Bharata Mahārāja ; utsṛṣṭa — having given up ; mṛga — śarīram — the body of a deer ; carama — śarīreṇa — with the last body ; vipratvam — being a brāhmaṇa ; gatam — obtained ; āhuḥ — 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 brāhmaṇa family. There was a brāhmaṇa who belonged to the dynasty of Aṅgirā. 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.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

To a best of brāhmaṇas of the Aṅgira line, who was endowed with mind and sense control, austerity, study of the Vedas, renunciation, satisfaction, tolerance, humility, knowledge, lack of envy, and bliss on realization of ātmā, were born nine sons, endowed with learning, conduct, beauty and generous qualities which was similar to that of their father. In his younger wife he bore twins. They say that the great devotee Bharata, giving up the body of a deer, became the male child among the twins, and lived his final life as a brāhmaṇa. In the Ninth Chapter, Bharata is born in a brāhmaṇa family, acts like a dull person, does not desire to take instructions on gāyatrī, acts as a scarecrow and gets offered to Kālī.

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 brāhmaṇa family or a rich kṣatriya or vaiśya family. Śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe ( Bg. 6.41 ). Bharata Mahārāja was the firstborn son of Mahārāja Ṛṣabha in a rich kṣatriya 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 Kṛṣṇa. Then he was given the chance to take birth in a very good brāhmaṇa family.