Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 27
Bharata Mahārāja’s Attachment to a Deer and His Fall from Yoga
तदानीमपि पार्श्ववर्तिनमात्मजमिवानुशोचन्तमभिवीक्षमाणो मृग एवाभिनिवेशितमना विसृज्य लोकमिमं सह मृगेण कलेवरं मृतमनु न मृतजन्मानुस्मृतिरितरवन्मृगशरीरमवाप ॥ २७ ॥
tadānīm api pārśva-vartinam ātmajam ivānuśocantam abhivīkṣamāṇo mṛga evābhiniveśita-manā visṛjya lokam imaṁ saha mṛgeṇa kalevaraṁ mṛtam anu na mṛta-janmānusmṛtir itaravan mṛga-śarīram avāpa.
Au moment de mourir, le roi vit le cerf assis près de lui, se lamentant comme s’il était son propre fils. En réalité, l’esprit du roi était absorbé dans le corps du cerf ; ainsi—comme ceux qui sont privés de conscience de Kṛṣṇa—il quitta ce monde, le cerf et son propre corps, et après la mort obtint un corps de cerf. Toutefois, il y eut un avantage : bien qu’il eût perdu son corps humain et reçu celui d’un cerf, il n’oublia pas les événements de sa vie passée.
There was a difference between Bharata Mahārāja’s acquiring a deer body and others’ acquiring different bodies according to their mental condition at the time of death. After death, others forget everything that has happened in their past lives, but Bharata Mahārāja did not forget. According to Bhagavad-gītā:
FAQs
This verse teaches that the mind’s absorption at death strongly shapes the next destination; Bharata, absorbed in the deer, attained a deer body.
Because his consciousness at the final moment became fixed on the deer—seeing it as a dependent like a son—he left his body remembering the deer and thus received a corresponding birth.
Train attention daily toward Kṛṣṇa (nāma-japa, śravaṇa, sādhana) so that deep habits of remembrance replace anxieties and attachments that can dominate the mind in crisis.