Text 3] The Supreme Character of Jada Bharata 309
of his relatives and friends who were not devotees. He was always
very cautious of such association because he feared that he would
again fall down. Consequently he manifested himself before the
public eye as a madman—dull, blind and deaf—so that others
would not try to talk to him. In this way he saved himself from bad
association. Within he was always thinking of the lotus feet of the
Lord and chanting the Lord’s glories, which save one from the
bondage of fruitive action. In this way he saved himself from the
onslaught of nondevotee associates.
PURPORT

Every living entity is bound by different activities due to association
with the modes of nature. As stated in Bhagavad-gita, karanam guna-
satigo ‘sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu: “This is due to his association with
that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various
species.” (Bg. 13.22)

We get different types of bodies among 8,400,000 species according to
our karma. Karmand daiva-netrena: we work under the influence of
material nature contaminated by the three modes, and thus we get a cer-
tain type of body according to superior order. This is called karma-
bandha. To get out of this karma-bandha, one must engage himself in
devotional service. Then one will not be affected by the modes of
material nature.

mam ca yo ’vyabhicarena
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa gundn samatityaitan
brahma-bhiyaya kalpate
“One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in
any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and
thus comes to the level of Brahman.” (Bg. 14.26) To remain immune
from the material qualities, one must engage himself in devotional ser-
vice—Sravanam kirtanarm visnoh. That is the perfection of life. When
Maharaja Bharata took birth as a brahmana, he was not very interested
in the duties of a brahmana, but within he remained a pure Vaisnava. al-
ways thinking of the lotus feet of the Lord. As advised in Bhagavad-gita:
