Text 17]
The Character of Bharata Mahārāja
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PURPORT
Bharata Mahārāja was very noble and exalted, and therefore when the deer was absent from him he thought himself unworthy to give it protection. Due to his attachment for the animal, he thought that the animal was as noble and exalted as he himself was. According to the logic of  āt-mavan manyate jagat , everyone thinks of others according to his own position. Therefore Mahārāja Bharata felt that the deer had left him due to his negligence and that due to the animal's noble heart, it would again return.
TEXT 17
अपि क्षेमेणासिन्नाश्रमोपवने शष्पाणि चरन्तं देवगुप्तं द्रक्ष्यामि ॥१७॥
api kṣemeṇāsminn āśramopavane śaṣpāṇi carantaṁ deva-guptaṁ drakṣyāmi.
api —it may be;  kṣemeṇa —with fearlessness because of the absence of tigers and other animals;  asmin —in this;  āśrama-upavane —garden of the hermitage;  śaṣpāṇi carantaṁ —walking and eating the soft grasses;  deva-guptaṁ —being protected by the demigods;  drakṣyāmi —shall I see.
TRANSLATION
Alas, is it possible that I shall again see this animal protected by the Lord and fearless of tigers and other animals? Shall I again see him wandering in the garden eating soft grass?
PURPORT
Mahārāja Bharata thought that the animal was disappointed in his protection and had left him for the protection of a demigod. Regardless, he ardently desired to see the animal again within his  āśrama  eating the soft grass and not fearing tigers and other animals. Mahārāja Bharata could think only of the deer and how the animal could be protected from all kinds of inauspicious things. From the materialistic point of view, such kind thoughts may be very laudable, but from the spiritual point of view