Text 14] Maharaja Rahigana Meets Jada Bharata 353

TRANSLATION

Sukadeva Gosvami said: O Maharaja Pariksit, when King
Rahigana chastised the exalted devotee Jada Bharata with harsh
words, that peaceful, saintly person tolerated it all and replied
properly. Nescience is due to the bodily conception, and Jada
Bharata was not affected by this false conception. Out of his
natural humility, he never considered himself a great devotee, and
he agreed to suffer the results of his past karma. Like an ordinary
man, he thought that by carrying the palanquin, he was destroying
the reactions of his past misdeeds. Thinking in this way, he began
to carry the palanquin as before.

PURPORT

An exalted devotee of the Lord never thinks that he is a paramaharnsa
or a liberated person. He always remains a humble servant of the Lord.
In all reverse conditions, he agrees to suffer the results of his past life.
He never accuses the Lord of putting him into a distressed condition.
These are the signs of an exalted devotee. Tat te ‘nukampam
susamiksyamanah. When suffering reversed conditions, the devotee al-
ways considers that the reverse conditions are the Lord’s concessions. He
is never angry with his master; he is always satisfied with the position his
master offers. In any case, he continues performing his duty in devo-
tional service. Such a person is guaranteed promotion back home, back to

Godhead. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.14.8):

tat te ‘nukampam susamiksamano
bhunjana evatma-krtam vipakam

hrd-vag-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
Jiveta yo mukti-pade sa daya-bhak

*‘My dear Lord, one who constantly waits for Your causeless mercy to be
bestowed upon him and who goes on suffering the reactions of his past
misdeeds, offering You respectful obeisances from the core of his heart.
is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.
