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Chapter 7: The Activities of King
Bharata
(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'When Bharata ['to be
maintained'] who was a most exalted devotee, to the order of his father
decided to rule the earth he,
assuming that supreme command, married the daughter of
Vis'varûpa, Pañcajanî. (2) The way one
identified with matter
has to deal with the five sense objects [of sound, taste etc.], Bharata
likewise begot in her five sons who were just like him: Sumati,
Râshthrabhrita, Sudars'ana, Âvarana and
Dhûmraketu. (3) This part of the world called
Ajanâbha
[referring to
king Nâbhi, see 5: 3] is since the rule of Bharata celebrated as
Bhârata-varsha [the land of Bharata, now India]. 
(4) He who was a great scholar, was a ruler as
great as his father and grandfather who governing with a caring heart
kept himself and his citizens to the duties. (5)
He next to that worshiped the Supreme Lord with great and small
sacrifices with and without animals. Full of faith agni-hotra,
dars'a, pûrnamâsa, câturmâsya, pas'u and
soma-rasa yajñas were performed in part or fully, which as
was prescribed practically always were conducted by four priests (*). (6)
When the expert priests with
all
supplementary rites were engaged in performing the various sacrifices,
he who constantly thinking of Vâsudeva, the Supreme Lord in the
spirit
of the hymns was freed from lust and anger, recognized that all the
different demigods, the recipients of the results, the ingredients of
the offering and
he himself the sacrificer, were all part of the body of the One
Original Person. He was the one enjoyer who, irrespective the results
of the
sacrificial ceremony for the dharma in question, was their controller,
their doer and their origin, He was the one responsible for the
complete of all the gods. (7) He
[Bharata] in the purity of his service was thus of the purest goodness
unto the Supersoul within the heart of the ethereal body, unto the
impersonal spirit of Brahman and unto Bhagavân, the Supreme Lord,
Vâsudeva, the Supreme Personality whose form is recognized by the
S'rîvatsa mark on the chest, the Kaustubha gem, the
flower garland, the disc, the conch shell, the club and other symbols. Once He as an indelible image has appeared in
the heart of the devotee, He who
on the highest level is known by His radiating personal form, has the
power to increase one's devotion
day after day. (8)
Thus for a countless number
of
millennia [by this exemplary practice] having ascertained the wealth he
had received from his forefathers, he personally, at the right moment
for abandoning his earthly duties, properly divided his kingdom among
his sons and then left that ancestral abode behind to go to the
meditation resort of Pulaha in Hardwar. (9) It is
the place where even today the Supreme Lord Hari moved by His paternal
affection shows Himself to the
there residing devotees
in the form they prefer. (10) At
different places that meditation resort is blessed with water from the
main river the Cakra-nadî [the Gandakî]. In that
river one finds the [round] stones with the concentric circles on top
and below [the black oval
pebbles that serve as objects of worship, the so-called
S'âlagrâma-s'ilâs]. (11) There in the fields of Pulaha's
meditation resort he with offerings of roots, bulbs and fruits combined
with water, twigs, tulasî leaves and all kinds of
flowers,
worshiped the Supreme Lord and was thus, delivered from all material
desires, purified in a steady increase of transcendental tranquility that
brought
him satisfaction. (12) By that constant
practice of serving the Original Personality of the Supreme Lord, with the weight of the
incessantly increasing
attachment to Him the
laxity of his heart disappeared. By the force of his transcendental
bliss the hairs on his body stood on end with tears blurring his vision
that sprang into his eyes because of his intense longing. Thus
meditating upon the pink lotus feet of the Lord, there was from his bhakti-yoga an
increase spreading everywhere of the highest and deepest spiritual
ecstasy in his heart in which he was immersed as in a lake and because
of which he, despite of his intelligence, no longer in his
efforts for
the Lord was capable of remembering his regular service. (13)
Dressed in a deerskin he, with the mass of
his beautiful brown, curly, matted hair being wet because of bathing
three times a day, thus vowed to
serve the Supreme Lord was of
worship for the Original
Personality in His golden appearance as the sun globe (**). Thereto he at sunrise payed homage to [Him as] the Sun God with reciting the
following Vedic hymn: (14) 'Beyond
of
passion
[in
goodness]
minding
this
created universe, there is the
self-effulgence illumining, the grace of God fulfilling with
sacred knowledge. Time and again entering [this world with Your
radiating sun globe or as a Vishnu avatâra] You supervise
the living being hankering after material pleasure. All
my respects for the One residing among us who moves all!'
(4) He who was a great scholar, was a ruler as
great as his father and grandfather who governing with a caring heart
kept himself and his citizens to the duties. (5)
He next to that worshiped the Supreme Lord with great and small
sacrifices with and without animals. Full of faith agni-hotra,
dars'a, pûrnamâsa, câturmâsya, pas'u and
soma-rasa yajñas were performed in part or fully, which as
was prescribed practically always were conducted by four priests (*). (6)
When the expert priests with
all
supplementary rites were engaged in performing the various sacrifices,
he who constantly thinking of Vâsudeva, the Supreme Lord in the
spirit
of the hymns was freed from lust and anger, recognized that all the
different demigods, the recipients of the results, the ingredients of
the offering and
he himself the sacrificer, were all part of the body of the One
Original Person. He was the one enjoyer who, irrespective the results
of the
sacrificial ceremony for the dharma in question, was their controller,
their doer and their origin, He was the one responsible for the
complete of all the gods. (7) He
[Bharata] in the purity of his service was thus of the purest goodness
unto the Supersoul within the heart of the ethereal body, unto the
impersonal spirit of Brahman and unto Bhagavân, the Supreme Lord,
Vâsudeva, the Supreme Personality whose form is recognized by the
S'rîvatsa mark on the chest, the Kaustubha gem, the
flower garland, the disc, the conch shell, the club and other symbols. Once He as an indelible image has appeared in
the heart of the devotee, He who
on the highest level is known by His radiating personal form, has the
power to increase one's devotion
day after day. (8)
Thus for a countless number
of
millennia [by this exemplary practice] having ascertained the wealth he
had received from his forefathers, he personally, at the right moment
for abandoning his earthly duties, properly divided his kingdom among
his sons and then left that ancestral abode behind to go to the
meditation resort of Pulaha in Hardwar. (9) It is
the place where even today the Supreme Lord Hari moved by His paternal
affection shows Himself to the
there residing devotees
in the form they prefer. (10) At
different places that meditation resort is blessed with water from the
main river the Cakra-nadî [the Gandakî]. In that
river one finds the [round] stones with the concentric circles on top
and below [the black oval
pebbles that serve as objects of worship, the so-called
S'âlagrâma-s'ilâs]. (11) There in the fields of Pulaha's
meditation resort he with offerings of roots, bulbs and fruits combined
with water, twigs, tulasî leaves and all kinds of
flowers,
worshiped the Supreme Lord and was thus, delivered from all material
desires, purified in a steady increase of transcendental tranquility that
brought
him satisfaction. (12) By that constant
practice of serving the Original Personality of the Supreme Lord, with the weight of the
incessantly increasing
attachment to Him the
laxity of his heart disappeared. By the force of his transcendental
bliss the hairs on his body stood on end with tears blurring his vision
that sprang into his eyes because of his intense longing. Thus
meditating upon the pink lotus feet of the Lord, there was from his bhakti-yoga an
increase spreading everywhere of the highest and deepest spiritual
ecstasy in his heart in which he was immersed as in a lake and because
of which he, despite of his intelligence, no longer in his
efforts for
the Lord was capable of remembering his regular service. (13)
Dressed in a deerskin he, with the mass of
his beautiful brown, curly, matted hair being wet because of bathing
three times a day, thus vowed to
serve the Supreme Lord was of
worship for the Original
Personality in His golden appearance as the sun globe (**). Thereto he at sunrise payed homage to [Him as] the Sun God with reciting the
following Vedic hymn: (14) 'Beyond
of
passion
[in
goodness]
minding
this
created universe, there is the
self-effulgence illumining, the grace of God fulfilling with
sacred knowledge. Time and again entering [this world with Your
radiating sun globe or as a Vishnu avatâra] You supervise
the living being hankering after material pleasure. All
my respects for the One residing among us who moves all!'
