Shloka 4
Bharata Mahārāja’s Attachment to a Deer and His Fall from Yoga
तमुपश्रुत्य सा मृगवधू: प्रकृतिविक्लवा चकितनिरीक्षणा सुतरामपिहरिभयाभिनिवेशव्यग्रहृदया पारिप्लवदृष्टिरगततृषा भयात् सहसैवोच्चक्राम ॥ ४ ॥
tam upaśrutya sā mṛga-vadhūḥ prakṛti-viklavā cakita-nirīkṣaṇā sutarām api hari-bhayābhiniveśa-vyagra-hṛdayā pāriplava-dṛṣṭir agata-tṛṣā bhayāt sahasaivoccakrāma.
Hearing that roar, the doe—by nature ever fearful of being slain—became distraught and looked about in alarm. Her heart, seized by fear of the lion, was unsettled and her eyes darted here and there; though her thirst was not yet quenched, she suddenly leapt across the river in terror.
FAQs
This verse describes how the doe, driven by instinct, becomes overwhelmed by fear of a predator and flees immediately—showing how powerful material nature’s impulses can be.
The frightened doe is part of the scene that leads to the fawn’s vulnerability, which later awakens Bharata Mahārāja’s compassion and gradually develops into attachment—central to the chapter’s moral.
Fear can hijack attention and judgment; the Bhagavatam’s broader lesson here is to cultivate steady awareness and detachment so compassion does not turn into binding attachment.