Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 9
Jaḍa Bharata’s Birth, Feigned Madness, and Protection by Goddess Kālī
स च प्राकृतैर्द्विपदपशुभिरुन्मत्तजडबधिरमूकेत्यभिभाष्यमाणो यदा तदनुरूपाणि प्रभाषते कर्माणि च कार्यमाण: परेच्छया करोति विष्टितो वेतनतो वा याच्ञया यदृच्छया वोपसादितमल्पं बहु मृष्टं कदन्नं वाभ्यवहरति परं नेन्द्रियप्रीतिनिमित्तम् । नित्यनिवृत्तनिमित्तस्वसिद्धविशुद्धानुभवानन्दस्वात्मलाभाधिगम: सुखदु:खयोर्द्वन्द्वनिमित्तयोरसम्भावितदेहाभिमान: ॥ ९ ॥ शीतोष्णवातवर्षेषु वृष इवानावृताङ्ग: पीन: संहननाङ्ग: स्थण्डिलसंवेशनानुन्मर्दनामज्जनरजसा महामणिरिवानभिव्यक्तब्रह्मवर्चस: कुपटावृतकटिरुपवीतेनोरुमषिणा द्विजातिरिति ब्रह्मबन्धुरिति संज्ञयातज्ज्ञजनावमतो विचचार ॥ १० ॥
sa ca prākṛtair dvipada-paśubhir unmatta-jaḍa-badhira-mūkety abhibhāṣyamāṇo yadā tad-anurūpāṇi prabhāṣate karmāṇi ca kāryamāṇaḥ parecchayā karoti viṣṭito vetanato vā yācñayā yadṛcchayā vopasāditam alpaṁ bahu mṛṣṭaṁ kadannaṁ vābhyavaharati paraṁ nendriya-prīti-nimittam. nitya-nivṛtta-nimitta-sva-siddha-viśuddhānubhavānanda-svātma-lābhādhigamaḥ sukha-duḥkhayor dvandva-nimittayor asambhāvita-dehābhimānaḥ. śītoṣṇa-vāta-varṣeṣu vṛṣa ivānāvṛtāṅgaḥ pīnaḥ saṁhananāṅgaḥ sthaṇḍila-saṁveśanānunmardanāmajjana-rajasā mahāmaṇir ivānabhivyakta-brahma-varcasaḥ kupaṭāvṛta-kaṭir upavītenoru-maṣiṇā dvijātir iti brahma-bandhur iti saṁjñayātaj-jñajanāvamato vicacāra.
ते प्राकृत द्विपद-पशु त्याला उन्मत्त, जड, बधिर, मूक असे म्हणत अपमान करीत; तरी तो त्यांच्या अनुरूप बोलत आणि त्यांच्या इच्छेप्रमाणे काम करीत. भिक्षा, मजुरी किंवा यदृच्छेने जे मिळे—थोडेबहुत, चविष्ट किंवा बेचव, शिळे किंवा कदन्न—ते तो स्वीकारून खात असे; इंद्रियसुखासाठी नव्हे. देहाभिमानातून नित्य निवृत्त होऊन तो शुद्ध अनुभवानंदस्वरूप आत्मलाभात स्थित असल्याने सुख-दुःखाचे द्वंद्व त्याला बाधत नसे।
Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has sung: deha-smṛti nāhi yāra, saṁsāra-bandhana kāhāṅ tāra. One who has no desire to maintain the body or who is not anxious to keep the body in order and who is satisfied in any condition must be either mad or liberated. Actually Bharata Mahārāja in his birth as Jaḍa Bharata was completely liberated from material dualities. He was a paramahaṁsa and therefore did not care for bodily comfort.
FAQs
This verse explains that a liberated soul may appear ordinary or even “mad” to materialistic people, yet remains inwardly fixed in pure self-realization, free from sense gratification and bodily identification.
Because he intentionally kept a socially inconspicuous demeanor and did not engage in worldly talk or ambition, materialistic observers misjudged him and labeled him with such insults.
Accept situations and necessities without obsession for pleasure, reduce sense-driven choices, and practice steadiness in praise and blame—cultivating inner identity as the soul rather than the body.