A Summary of the Srimad Bhagavatham : Ch-4. Part-11.

4: The Stories of Siva and Sati, and of Rishabhadeva and Bharata :


Part-11.


They said, “Go! Do some work,” but he would not do any work either.

“Okay, at least tend the cattle. Go! Graze the cows,” they said.

He took the cattle to graze, and allowed them to go into other people’s fields and eat up all their crops. People were annoyed, and wondered what was wrong with him.

Then they said, “Don’t do anything. Go and sit there. Idiot! Don’t do anything.”

But though Bharata would not utter a word, he looked very robust. He was filled with energy, but he did not want to use that energy because of fear of attachment. He had learned his lesson. So he did not want to say anything to anybody, and just kept quiet.
Some dacoits who worshipped Kali—Bhadrakali—were looking for a human being to offer in sacrifice. They searched for a hefty, strong person, and they somehow found Bharata sitting quietly without saying anything.

“Come on,” they said.

He did not utter one word, and allowed them to drag him to the temple. They anointed him with chandanam—sandalwood paste—and garlanded him, and he still did not utter one word. Then the priest took the sword to behead him. Immediately, thunder struck. A bursting noise arose from the murti of Kali that they were worshipping, and a fierce-looking Devi rushed forward, grabbed the priest’s sword, and cut him down, and smashed everything. All the dacoits ran helter-skelter. Even all this noise did not disturb Jada Bharata’s peace. He kept quiet. Let Kali come, let dacoits come, let anything happen, he did not mind anything. People ran away from that place, and he sat alone there.

Swami Krishnananda

To be continued  ...