Sunday, 21 January 2018

JADABHARATOPAKHYA - 22

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(The story of Jadabharata is in the form of a narration by Shuka Muni to King Pareekshit. In this part, Jadabharata cites the examples of extraordinary kings to tell Rahugana that even such Kings were not comparable to Lord Hari. PLEASE READ, COMMENT AND SHARE IT YOU LIKE IT)

It is first said that the gods and goddesses praise Bharata as incomparable, unmatched and super most King of all times:
ArShaBhasyEha rAjarShErmanasA(a)pi mahAtmanaha|
NAnuvartmArhati nrupO makShikEva Garutmataha||
The deities sang thus in praise of Bharata Muni:
Son of great Rushabha called Bharata was a Rajarshi and none can ever imagine in the wildest of thoughts about the way Bharata pursued the path of penance and salvation or Moksha. Can a housefly fly like golden eagle?
Sri Madhwacharya states that this is just an exaggeration of the qualities of Bharata only to drive home the fact that he was very great. However, one can come across other great kings like Kartaveeryarjuna, Pruthu, Priyavrata and so on, who were emperors of extraordinary brilliance, virtues and spirituality, which can only be compared with the qualities of Karma Devatas or deities having certain specific area of duties and responsibilities. Therefore, the above Shloka should be read as:
RutE HaihayavainyAdeen ArShaBhasyEha kaha samAha?
YastyOpadEshAt sinDhveeshO dadarsha Kapilam praBhum iti cha||
Which other king, except Kartaveeryarjuna, Pruthu and others, can match Bharata? Because, due to the preaching of Bharata, King Rahugana saw Kapila Maharshi in him.
Shuka Muni reiterates with King Pareekshit that even during his life as a deer, Bharata was praising the qualities of the Lord.

Jadabharata had told King Rahugana that if a group of traders happen to enter forest area by mistake and they do not have any leader to fight for them, then robbers waylay them and snatch away everything in their possession. Fox and Wolves take away lambs and sheep. Roads become beyond penetration due to dense growth of thorny herms and shrubs. The whole scenario is like the Second Coming of W.B. Yeats. It is a scene of utter chaos where ‘falcon cannot hear the falconer.’  All these metaphors and descriptions convey the pattern of life of a man and Jadabharata tells King Rahugana that in spite of such disdainful, awful, unbearable troubles and empirical facts, human being does not try to cross the tunnel of darkness so that he can see the light of the day. This is the tunnel of worldly life, the tryst with a bliss through family life and so on. At every state, human being loses his path and jumps from one forest into another ‘dark and deep woods’. As a result, he keeps circumambulating in the family life, always missing his path. (to be continued…)            

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