Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 17
Jaḍa Bharata’s Birth, Feigned Madness, and Protection by Goddess Kālī
इति तेषां वृषलानां रजस्तम:प्रकृतीनां धनमदरजउत्सिक्तमनसां भगवत्कलावीरकुलं कदर्थीकृत्योत्पथेन स्वैरं विहरतां हिंसाविहाराणां कर्मातिदारुणं यद्ब्रह्मभूतस्य साक्षाद्ब्रह्मर्षिसुतस्य निर्वैरस्य सर्वभूतसुहृद: सूनायामप्यननुमतमालम्भनं तदुपलभ्य ब्रह्मतेजसातिदुर्विषहेण दन्दह्यमानेन वपुषा सहसोच्चचाट सैव देवी भद्रकाली ॥ १७ ॥
iti teṣāṁ vṛṣalānāṁ rajas-tamaḥ-prakṛtīnāṁ dhana-mada-raja-utsikta-manasāṁ bhagavat-kalā-vīra-kulaṁ kadarthī-kṛtyotpathena svairaṁ viharatāṁ hiṁsā-vihārāṇāṁ karmāti-dāruṇaṁ yad brahma-bhūtasya sākṣād brahmarṣi-sutasya nirvairasya sarva-bhūta-suhṛdaḥ sūnāyām apy ananumatam ālambhanaṁ tad upalabhya brahma-tejasāti-durviṣaheṇa dandahyamānena vapuṣā sahasoccacāṭa saiva devī bhadra-kālī.
രജോ-തമോ ഗുണങ്ങളാൽ ആവൃതരായ ആ കൊള്ളക്കാർ, സർവ്വചരാചരങ്ങളുടെയും സുഹൃത്തായ ജഡഭരതനെ ബലികൊടുക്കാൻ തുനിഞ്ഞപ്പോൾ ഭദ്രകാളി ദേവിക്ക് അത് സഹിക്കാനായില്ല. അസഹനീയമായ തേജസ്സോടെ ദേവി വിഗ്രഹത്തിൽ നിന്ന് പുറത്തുവന്നു.
According to the Vedic injunctions, only an aggressor can be killed. If a person comes with an intent to kill, one can immediately take action and kill in self-defense. It is also stated that one can be killed if he comes to set fire to the home or to pollute or kidnap one’s wife. Lord Rāmacandra killed the entire family of Rāvaṇa because Rāvaṇa kidnapped His wife, Sītādevī. However, killing is not sanctioned in the śāstras for other purposes. The killing of animals in sacrifice to the demigods, who are expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is sanctioned for those who eat meat. This is a kind of restriction for meat-eating. In other words, the slaughter of animals is also restricted by certain rules and regulations in the Vedas. Considering these points, there was no reason to kill Jaḍa Bharata, who was born in a respectable, highly exalted brāhmaṇa family. He was a God-realized soul and a well-wisher to all living entities. The Vedas did not at all sanction the killing of Jaḍa Bharata by rogues and thieves. Consequently the goddess Bhadra Kālī emerged from the deity to give protection to the Lord’s devotee. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains that due to the Brahman effulgence of such a devotee as Jaḍa Bharata, the deity was fractured. Only thieves and rogues in the modes of passion and ignorance and maddened by material opulence offer a man in sacrifice before the goddess Kālī. This is not sanctioned by the Vedic instructions. Presently there are many hundreds and thousands of slaughterhouses throughout the world that are maintained by a puffed-up population mad for material opulence. Such activities are never supported by the Bhāgavata school.
FAQs
This verse shows that attempting violence against a realized, non-envious devotee is an extremely cruel act that invokes immediate divine reaction—Bhadrakālī rises as the perpetrators cannot tolerate the brahminical effulgence protecting the devotee.
Because the outcaste men tried to offer Jaḍa Bharata as an unauthorized sacrifice, despite his being a brahma-bhūta, a friend of all beings; perceiving this adharma, Bhadrakālī suddenly manifested, affected by the unbearable brahma-tejas present.
It warns that arrogance born of wealth and a taste for violence lead to severe consequences; humility, respect for the saintly, and non-violence are essential to remain aligned with dharma.