Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 28
Bharata’s Attachment and the Palanquin Teaching on ‘I’ and ‘Mine’
पितेव सास्त्रं पुत्रेण मृगपोतेन वीक्षितः । मृगमेव तदाद्राक्षीत्त्यजन्प्राणानसावपि ॥ २८ ॥
piteva sāstraṃ putreṇa mṛgapotena vīkṣitaḥ | mṛgameva tadādrākṣīttyajanprāṇānasāvapi || 28 ||
जसा पिता स्नेहाने पुत्राकडे पाहतो, तसा तो मृगपिल्लाकडे पाहू लागला. त्या क्षणी त्याला फक्त हरिणच दिसले; आणि प्राण सोडतानाही त्याचे मन त्याच्यातच स्थिर राहिले।
Sanatkumara (teaching Narada in Moksha-Dharma context)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
It emphasizes the doctrine of mental fixation (smṛti) at the time of death: the object held in consciousness at the final moment strongly conditions the next state of existence, so attachment can obstruct moksha.
By contrast: if the mind can cling so powerfully to a deer, it can and should be trained to cling to Vishnu/Narayana at the final moment—making bhakti and constant remembrance (smaraṇa) the practical safeguard against worldly attachment.
Not a technical Vedanga lesson; the practical takeaway is yogic/Smriti discipline—training attention and memory through japa, dhyana, and daily recitation so the mind naturally remembers the Divine rather than sense-objects at death.