Text 9] Maharaja Rahigana Meets Jada Bharata 345

bréhmana uvdaca
tvayoditam vyaktam avipralabdharn
bhartuh sa me sydd yadi vira bharah
gantur yadi sydd adhigamyam adhva

piveti rdSau na vida pravadah

bréhmanah uvdca—the learned brahmana (Jada Bharata) spoke;
tvaya—by you; uditam—explained; vyaktam—very clearly; avipra-
labdham—without contradictions; bhartuh—of the bearer, the body;
sah—that; me—mine; syat—it would have been; yadi—if; vira—O
great hero (Maharaja Rahigana); bha@rah—a load; gantuh—of the
mover, also the body; yadi—if; syat—it had been; adhigamyam—the
object to be obtained; adhva—the path; piv@—very stout and strong;
iti—thus; rdsau—in the body; na—not; viddm—of the self-realized
persons; pravadah—subject matter for discussion.

TRANSLATION

The great brahmana Jada Bharata said: My dear King and hero,
whatever you have spoken sarcastically is certainly true. Actually
these are not simply words of chastisement, for the body is the car-
rier. The load carried by the body does not belong to me, for I am
the spirit soul. There is no contradiction in your statements
because I am different from the body. I am not the carrier of the
palanquin; the body is the carrier. Certainly, as you have hinted, I
have not labored carrying the palanquin, for I am detached from
the body. You have said that I am not stout and strong, and these
words are befitting a person who does not know the distinction
between the body and the soul. The body may be fat or thin, but
no learned man would say such things of the spirit soul. As far as
the spirit soul is concerned, I am neither fat nor skinny; therefore
you are correct when you say that I am not very stout. Also, if the
object of this journey and the path leading there were mine, there
would be many troubles for me, but because they relate not to me
but to my body, there is no trouble at all.
