Shloka 58
भरतचरितम्—मृगासक्ति-हेतुकः समाधिभङ्गः, जातिस्मरत्वं, रहूगण-जाḍभरत-संवादः
नाहं पीवा न चैवोढा शिबिका भवतो मया न श्रान्तो ऽस्मि न चायासः सोढव्यो ऽस्ति महीपते
nāhaṃ pīvā na caivoḍhā śibikā bhavato mayā na śrānto 'smi na cāyāsaḥ soḍhavyo 'sti mahīpate
“O king, I am neither a drunkard nor truly a bearer of your palanquin. I am not weary, nor is there any strain that must be endured—for what, indeed, is there to be ‘carried’?”
The spiritually realized ascetic being compelled to carry the palanquin (Jaḍa Bharata / a brahma-jñānī presented as a ‘simpleton’)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Jaḍa Bharata’s correction: the ‘carrier’ and ‘burden’ are conceptual superimpositions upon the Self.
Teaching: Philosophical
Quality: revealing
Concept: The notions ‘I carry’ and ‘this is carried’ arise from misidentifying the Self with the body; in truth, the ātman is actionless while actions belong to body-mind and guṇas.
Vedantic Theme: Atman
Application: When stressed by ‘my load,’ pause and separate role/body from witnessing awareness; act dutifully without egoic ownership.
Vishishtadvaita: The jīva is not the gross body; yet as the Lord’s mode (śeṣa), one performs duty without ego, recognizing the Antaryāmin as inner ruler of embodied action.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: shanta
Antaryamin: Yes
FAQs
It dramatizes the contrast between bodily identity and Self-knowledge: the sage refuses the label of “carrier,” showing that true agency and suffering belong to egoic identification, not to the realized Self.
By implying that tiredness and exertion arise from identification with the body; the knower of the Self does not appropriate bodily action as “I do” or “I suffer,” and thus speaks of nothing that must be endured.
Even in a seemingly ethical-royal story, the Purāṇa points toward the Vishnu-centered vision of reality: the Self grounded in the Supreme (Vishnu) transcends ego and bodily limitation, which is the deeper basis of dharma.