2nd Life - Emperor to Deer

Chapter 8

Once, while meditating, Bharata chanced upon an innocent, gentle deer. Frightened by the roar of a lion, the deer jumped across the river and died in the process, during which time it also gave birth to a baby deer. Bharata’s compassion was awakened, and as he saw that helpless, orphaned deer, he resolved to give it shelter. Over time, his life began to revolve around the deer, so much so that his devotional practices began to slacken. Though he had renounced a kingdom and embraced the path of renunciation, he had now inadvertently become attached to an animal.

Once, while searching for the deer, the degree of his attachment became apparent - his mind was filled with memories, anxiety and excessive material affection. When Bharata became sick, the deer appeared beside him. While immersed in thoughts of his beloved dependent, Bharata ended his life and naturally took his next birth as a deer. Due to his spiritual advancement, Bharata, as a deer, remembered his past life. Ashamed by his ignoble fall, he left his mother deer and lived a life of renunciation in the forest. In the seclusion of that holy place, Bharata completed his term of existence in that animal form.