Jada Bharata instructs Rahugana

Chapter 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

When the youthful Jada Bharata was enlisted as a palanquin carrier for King Rahugana, instead of protesting the demeaning order, he humbly accepted. There was, however, one slight problem – because Jada Bharata was so careful to avoid stepping on any ants, the palanquin never remained steady! Outraged by his ‘incompetence,’ the King chastised Jada Bharata with vile language and threatened him with punishment. The saintly avadhuta, however, responded with perfect humility, clarity and spirituality and gave deeply philosophical responses to the insults. Humbled and repentant, Rahugana immediately detected the greatness of Jada Bharata and begged forgiveness and guidance. He asked a variety of questions to further understand the deep philosophical import of Jada Bharata’s words. Jada Bharata’s main teachings covered:

• The nature of the mind, how it entangles the soul and how to conquer it []

• The falsity and temporality of the material world and its identities, in contrast with the eternality of the Lord, His devotees and His abode []

• The forest of material enjoyment – an allegory to explain how the conditioned soul enters this world with the selfish, enjoying spirit, but is then attacked, plundered, injured, illusioned and completely victimised by different aspects of the material world []

Jada Bharata thus concluded his profound dissemination of knowledge and encouraged the appreciative King Rahugana to perfect his life and cross the ocean of material existence.