Shloka 32
भरतचरितम्—मृगासक्ति-हेतुकः समाधिभङ्गः, जातिस्मरत्वं, रहूगण-जाḍभरत-संवादः
मृगम् एष तदाद्राक्षीत् त्यजन् प्राणान् असाव् अपि तन्मयत्वेन मैत्रेय नान्यत् किंचिद् अचिन्तयत्
mṛgam eṣa tadādrākṣīt tyajan prāṇān asāv api tanmayatvena maitreya nānyat kiṃcid acintayat
At that moment he beheld the deer; and even as his life-breath was departing, O Maitreya, absorbed wholly in it, he thought of nothing else.
Sage Parāśara (addressing Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How attachment at death shapes the next birth
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: The final dominant thought (bhāvanā) at death powerfully conditions the next embodiment, so the mind must be trained toward the Highest.
Vedantic Theme: Moksha
Application: Practice nāma-smaraṇa and meditation daily so that remembrance of Viṣṇu becomes the mind’s default even under stress or at life’s end.
Vishishtadvaita: Remembrance is relational: the jiva’s liberation depends on turning its consciousness toward the Supreme Person rather than finite objects.
FAQs
This verse highlights that the final dominant thought can shape the next birth; Bharata’s absorption in the deer becomes the karmic cause for a corresponding rebirth.
Parāśara shows that even a spiritually advanced person can fall if the mind identifies with an object of care; absorption (tanmayatva) displaces higher contemplation and binds one to samsāra.
Implicitly, the teaching urges that the mind should be anchored in the Supreme—Vishnu—rather than transient forms; remembrance of the Eternal is presented as the sure safeguard against karmic descent.