Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 11
Jaḍa Bharata’s Birth, Feigned Madness, and Protection by Goddess Kālī
यदा तु परत आहारं कर्मवेतनत ईहमान: स्वभ्रातृभिरपि केदारकर्मणि निरूपितस्तदपि करोति किन्तु न समं विषमं न्यूनमधिकमिति वेद कणपिण्याकफलीकरणकुल्माषस्थालीपुरीषादीन्यप्यमृतवदभ्यवहरति ॥ ११ ॥
yadā tu parata āhāraṁ karma-vetanata īhamānaḥ sva-bhrātṛbhir api kedāra-karmaṇi nirūpitas tad api karoti kintu na samaṁ viṣamaṁ nyūnam adhikam iti veda kaṇa-piṇyāka-phalī-karaṇa-kulmāṣa-sthālīpurīṣādīny apy amṛtavad abhyavaharati.
ジャダ・バラタは食のためだけに働いていた。異母兄たちはそれにつけ込み、わずかな食を与える代わりに畑仕事をさせたが、彼は平らと凸凹、少ない多いの区別を知らなかった。砕けた米、油粕、籾殻、虫食いの穀粒、鍋にこびりついた焦げ飯さえ与えられても、彼はそれを甘露のように喜んで受け取り食した。
The platform of paramahaṁsa is described in Bhagavad-gītā (2.15) : sama-duḥkha-sukhaṁ dhīraṁ so ’mṛtatvāya kalpate. When one is callous to all duality, the happiness and distress of this material world, one is fit for amṛtatva, eternal life. Bharata Mahārāja was determined to finish his business in this material world, and he did not at all care for the world of duality. He was complete in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and was oblivious to good and evil, happiness and distress. As stated in Caitanya-caritāmṛta ( Cc. Antya 4.176):
FAQs
This verse shows Jaḍa Bharata’s extraordinary tolerance: he accepts harsh labor and even the most impure food without complaint, remaining indifferent to bodily comfort and social insult.
Considering him dull and incapable, they treated him like a menial worker and assigned him agricultural labor; the narrative highlights his outward “jaḍa” behavior and inward spiritual steadiness.
Do your duty without obsession over praise, fairness, or comfort, and cultivate gratitude and simplicity—training the mind to stay steady even when circumstances are unpleasant.