Jada Bharata

Once upon a time, there was a king named Bharata. At a ripe old age, he handed over his kingdom to his sons and retired to the forest to live the life of a hermit.

One day, while bathing in a river, he encountered a fawn whose mother was dead. He took the fawn in and nursed it as if it were his own child. Gradually, he lost sight of his spiritual discipline and devoted all his time to raising the fawn, which grew into a beautiful deer.

Even at the time of his death, Bharata could think of nothing but the deer. As a result, he was reborn as a deer himself. He deeply regretted his foolish attachment to the deer during his previous life. After his life as a deer ended, he was born as the son of a Brahmin. His stepmother mistreated him, prompting him to leave home and wander like a mendicant. Although people mistook him for an idiot, he actually remembered his two previous lives and no longer formed attachments.

One day, Bharata was seized by the king’s servants and ordered to work as one of the bearers of the king’s palanquin. He walked carefully to avoid stepping on small creatures along the road. However, the jerks caused by his cautiousness angered the king, who kicked him. Calmly, Bharata began to share profound truths from the scriptures with the king. The king was amazed and dismounted to prostrate himself before the strange bearer.

However, Bharata did not wait for the king’s honor. Instead, he returned to the forest, sat in meditation, and attained liberation. He is remembered as Jada Bharata, or Bharata the Inert, because he never reacted to any wrongs done to him.