Text 2] The Supreme Character of Jada Bharata 307

possessing all these qualities; nava sa-udarydh—nine brothers born of
the same womb; anga-jah—sons; babhiivuh—were born; mithunam—a
twin brother and sister; ca—and; yaviyasyam—in the youngest;
bharyayam—wife; yah—who; tu—but; tatra—there; pumdan—the
male child; tam—him; parama-bhagavatam—the most exalted devotee;
raja-rsi—of saintly kings; pravaram—most honored; bharatam—
Bharata Maharaja; utsrsta—having given up; mrga-sariram—the body
of a deer; carama-sarirena—with the last body; vipratvam—being a
brahmana; gatam—obtained; dhuh—they said.

TRANSLATION

Srila Sukadeva Gosvami continued: My dear King, after giving
up the body of a deer, Bharata Maharaja took birth in a very pure
brahmana family. There was a brahmana who belonged to the
dynasty of Angira. 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 asister, of which
the male child was said to be the topmost devotee and foremost of
saintly kings—Bharata Maharaja. This, then, is the story of the
birth he took after giving up the body of a deer.

PURPORT

Bharata Maharaja was a great devotee, but he did not attain success in
one life. In Bhagavad-gita 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 brahmana family or a rich ksatriya or vaisya family. Sucinarh
Srimatam gehe (Bg. 6.41). Bharata Maharaja was the firstborn son of
Maharaja Rsabha in a rich ksatriya family, but due to his willful
negligence of his spiritual duties and his excessive attachment to an in-
significant 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
