Shloka 30
भरतचरितम्—मृगासक्ति-हेतुकः समाधिभङ्गः, जातिस्मरत्वं, रहूगण-जाḍभरत-संवादः
चपले चपलं तस्मिन् दूरगं दूरगामिनि मृगपोते ऽभवच् चित्तं स्थैर्यवत् तस्य भूपतेः
capale capalaṃ tasmin dūragaṃ dūragāmini mṛgapote 'bhavac cittaṃ sthairyavat tasya bhūpateḥ
Upon that skittish fawn—restless by nature and ever darting farther and farther—the king’s mind became fixed; and even in chasing the distant, his heart held a strange firmness of unwavering attention.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Concept: Even a disciplined mind can become strangely fixated on a fleeting object, revealing the subtle danger of attachment.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Notice early signs of fixation and deliberately redirect attention toward sattvic study, japa, and service before attachment hardens.
Vishishtadvaita: The jiva’s attention is meant to rest on the Lord; when it clings to a finite object, it forgets its proper dependence (śeṣatva) on Viṣṇu.
FAQs
The fawn functions as a narrative symbol of a swiftly moving, hard-to-hold object—showing how a ruler’s mind can become intensely fixed (sthairyavat) on something inherently fickle and distant.
Through the contrast “capala” (restless) versus “sthairyavat” (steady), Parāśara highlights that the mind can acquire concentrated fixation even on unstable objects—an implicit caution within the royal genealogical storytelling.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the line, the Purana’s framework treats dharma and right governance as grounded in Vishnu’s supreme order; the verse warns that sovereignty must remain aligned to that higher reality rather than to fleeting attachments.