Shloka 22
Bharata Mahārāja’s Attachment to a Deer and His Fall from Yoga
आसादितहविषि बर्हिषि दूषिते मयोपालब्धो भीतभीत: सपद्युपरतरास ऋषिकुमारवदवहितकरणकलाप आस्ते ॥ २२ ॥
āsādita-haviṣi barhiṣi dūṣite mayopālabdho bhīta-bhītaḥ sapady uparata-rāsa ṛṣi-kumāravad avahita-karaṇa-kalāpa āste.
When I set the sacrificial offerings upon the kuśa grass, the deer, in play, would touch the grass with its teeth and thus defile it. When I pushed it away and chastised it, it would at once grow fearful and sit motionless like a sage’s son, restraining its senses and ceasing its play.
Bharata Mahārāja was constantly thinking of the activities of the deer, forgetting that such meditation and diversion of attention was killing his progress in spiritual achievement.
FAQs
This verse shows that when sacred worship is disturbed and becomes impure, a sincere practitioner should accept correction, become alert, and re-establish purity through restraint of the senses and focused attention.
He realized he had been negligent and was being corrected; that awareness of fault made him afraid of spiritual downfall, so he immediately became careful and composed.
When you notice your mind pulling you away from your spiritual routine, pause, accept the correction, reduce distractions, and return to practice with deliberate attention and disciplined senses.