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| King Bharat and deer |
Once upon a time, there was a king named Rishabhadeva. He had a hundred children. Bharata, the eldest of them, was a great devotee of Vishnu. This Bharata, after his father, began to rule the whole world.
During his reign, the kingdom was prosperous. With no fear of smugglers, the citizens lived comfortably. Bharata married Panchajani, daughter of Vishwarupa. Several children were born to him.
During his ten thousand-year reign, the king performed many yagnas for Vishnu. Later he lost interest in governance and handed over the kingdom to his children.
After this, he went to the Pulasa ashram, on the banks of the Gandaki river, and wearing a cloth like a sage, began to meditate. Apart from that, every day he went to the forest and collected grass, fruit bunches, Tulsi leaves and river water to worship God.
As the years rolled by, the worldly desires in his mind completely disappeared. His motive was only devotion and service.
Lord Vishnu was observing all this from Vaikuntha. He was waiting for the right time to test Bharata's devotion.
One day Bharata finished bathing in the river Gandaki as usual, collected flowers and leaves, sat on the bank and began his mantra with Omkara.
Just in front of him, a pregnant deer was slowly getting up after drinking the river's water. Meanwhile, a lion roared in a nearby bush.
Hearing the roar, other animals ran in different directions. The birds flew into the sky. The deer near the river was scared. Without daring to look where the lion was, she jumped straight into the river water and swam towards the opposite bank. As she rushed into the water, the baby in her womb fell into the water. fawn started to get washed away due to the convulsions of the river.
Bharata, who had opened his eyes to the lion's roar, stopped his mantra halfway and saw a small fawn drowning right before him. He got up from his seat and without thinking, jumped into the water. After much effort, the baby deer was rescued and brought to the shore. Looking towards the opposite side for the mother deer, but she was nowhere to be seen.
Seeing no other way, he took the baby deer to his ashram. Every day, he used to feed the deer and provide water. Besides, he had to accompany the deer wherever he went and protect him from wild animals.
Sometimes during meditation, he would open his eyes to see where the deer was, thus reducing the duration of his aesthetics. He would fidget if he did not see his deer for a moment.
Thus Bharata, who left all worldly desires and came to the forest, now developed his infatuation with the deer and cared for him like his own son.
After some years, old Bharata who was sleeping, opened his eyes but he could not sit up. The deer was sitting before him and was shedding tears. He closed his eyes knowing that his life was about to end.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw no deer. He who went to stand up could not stand on two legs. Bharata was completely transformed into a deer. But he had full memory of his previous birth. He regretted that this step might have been due to the desire of his senses. He vowed not to make this mistake again.
Bharat, in the form of a deer, lamented that he had left his kingdom, consort and children, given up sensual desires, came to an ashram lived an aesthetic life, and in the end, became attached to a deer and completely forgot the service of God.
He separated from his mother deer, who lived in a mountain called Kalanjara, and from there he went alone to the forest in an area called Salagrama. From there he went to the Pulaha ashram, ate only dry leaves among the sages, meditated on the Lord, and finally bathed in the river and left his physical body.
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