Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 16
Bharata Mahārāja’s Attachment to a Deer and His Fall from Yoga
अपि बत स वै कृपण एणबालको मृतहरिणीसुतोऽहो ममानार्यस्य शठकिरातमतेरकृतसुकृतस्य कृतविस्रम्भ आत्मप्रत्ययेन तदविगणयन् सुजन इवागमिष्यति ॥ १६ ॥
api bata sa vai kṛpaṇa eṇa-bālako mṛta-hariṇī-suto ’ho mamānāryasya śaṭha-kirāta-mater akṛta-sukṛtasya kṛta-visrambha ātma-pratyayena tad avigaṇayan sujana ivāgamiṣyati.
“അയ്യോ! അമ്മ മരിച്ച ആ ദീന മാൻകുഞ്ഞ്. അയ്യോ, ഞാൻ എത്ര അനാര്യൻ! എന്റെ മനസ്സ് വഞ്ചനയും ക്രൂരതയും നിറഞ്ഞ കപട വേട്ടക്കാരനെപ്പോലെ; എനിക്ക് സുകൃതമില്ല. എന്നിട്ടും ആ നിർമലൻ എന്നിൽ വിശ്വാസം വെച്ചു. സജ്ജനനെപ്പോലെ എന്റെ തെറ്റ് കണക്കാക്കാതെ, തന്റെ വിശ്വാസബലത്തിൽ അത് വീണ്ടും തിരികെ വരുമോ?”
Bharata Mahārāja was very noble and exalted, and therefore when the deer was absent from him he thought himself unworthy to give it protection. Due to his attachment for the animal, he thought that the animal was as noble and exalted as he himself was. According to the logic of ātmavan manyate jagat, everyone thinks of others according to his own position. Therefore Mahārāja Bharata felt that the deer had left him due to his negligence and that due to the animal’s noble heart, it would again return.
FAQs
This verse shows Bharata Mahārāja recognizing that his growing emotional dependence on the fawn is pulling his mind away from higher spiritual focus—attachment can make one overlook what is truly beneficial for bhakti.
Out of remorse and self-criticism, he condemns his own lapse from renunciation—feeling that his absorbed, possessive concern resembles worldly, instinctive attachment rather than saintly detachment.
Practice compassion without losing spiritual priorities: serve dependents responsibly, but keep steady sādhana and remember that excessive emotional fixation can quietly displace remembrance of the Lord.