Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 8
Jaḍa Bharata’s Birth, Feigned Madness, and Protection by Goddess Kālī
पितर्युपरते भ्रातर एनमतत्प्रभावविदस्त्रय्यां विद्यायामेव पर्यवसितमतयो न परविद्यायां जडमतिरिति भ्रातुरनुशासननिर्बन्धान्न्यवृत्सन्त ॥ ८ ॥
pitary uparate bhrātara enam atat-prabhāva-vidas trayyāṁ vidyāyām eva paryavasita-matayo na para-vidyāyāṁ jaḍa-matir iti bhrātur anuśāsana-nirbandhān nyavṛtsanta.
Après la mort du père, les neuf demi-frères de Jaḍa Bharata, le tenant pour stupide, restèrent cantonnés au savoir des trois Veda et abandonnèrent l’effort paternel de l’instruire dans la connaissance suprême : la bhakti, le service dévotionnel au Seigneur.
FAQs
This verse shows that Bharata’s brothers misjudged him as dull because they did not know his inner spiritual power—warning readers not to measure devotion by outward behavior.
After their father’s death, they assumed Bharata lacked higher spiritual intelligence (para-vidyā) and therefore gave up their repeated efforts to discipline him.
Avoid quick spiritual judgments: a person may be inwardly advanced even if they seem socially awkward, quiet, or unconventional—practice humility and look for character and steadiness, not display.