एष दाता शरण्यश्च यथा ह्यौशीनरः शिबिः ।
यशो वितनिता स्वानां दौष्यन्तिरिव यज्वनाम् ॥२०॥

eá¹£a dÄtÄ Å›araṇyaÅ› ca
yathÄ hy auśīnaraḥ Å›ibiḥ
yaÅ›o vitanitÄ svÄnÄá¹
dauá¹£yantir iva yajvanÄm

 eá¹£aḥ - this child; dÄtÄ - donor in charity; Å›araṇyaḥ - protector of the surrendered; ca - and; yathÄ - as; hi - certainly; auśīnaraḥ - the country named Uśīnara; Å›ibiḥ - Åšibi; yaÅ›aḥ - fame; vitanitÄ - disseminator; svÄnÄm - of the kinsmen; dauá¹£yantiḥ iva - like Bharata, the son of Duá¹£yanta; yajvanÄm - of those who have performed many sacrifices.


Text

This child will be a munificent donor of charity and protector of the surrendered, like the famous King Åšibi of the Uśīnara country. And he will expand the name and fame of his family like Bharata, the son of MahÄrÄja Duá¹£yanta.

Purport

A king becomes famous by his acts of charity, performances of yajñas, protection of the surrendered, etc. A ká¹£atriya king is proud to give protection to the surrendered souls. This attitude of a king is called Ä«Å›vara-bhÄva, or factual power to give protection in a righteous cause. In the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ the Lord instructs living beings to surrender unto Him, and He promises all protection. The Lord is all-powerful and true to His word, and therefore He never fails to give protection to His different devotees. The king, being the representative of the Lord, must possess this attitude of giving protection to the surrendered souls at all risk. MahÄrÄja Åšibi, the King of Uśīnara, was an intimate friend of MahÄrÄja YayÄti, who was able to reach the heavenly planets along with MahÄrÄja Åšibi. MahÄrÄja Åšibi was aware of the heavenly planet where he was to be transferred after his death, and the description of this heavenly planet is given in the MahÄbhÄrata (Ä€di-parva 96.6-9). MahÄrÄja Åšibi was so charitably disposed that he wanted to give over his acquired position in the heavenly kingdom to YayÄti, but he did not accept it. YayÄti went to the heavenly planet along with great ṛṣis like Aṣṭaka and others. On inquiry from the ṛṣis, YayÄti gave an account of Åšibi’s pious acts when all of them were on the path to heaven. He has become a member of the assembly of YamarÄja, who has become his worshipful deity. As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, the worshiper of the demigods goes to the planets of the demigods (yÄnti deva-vratÄ devÄn); so MahÄrÄja Åšibi has become an associate of the great Vaiṣṇava authority YamarÄja on that particular planet. While he was on the earth he became very famous as a protector of surrendered souls and a donor of charities. The King of heaven once took the shape of a pigeon-hunter bird (eagle), and Agni, the fire-god, took the shape of a pigeon. The pigeon, while being chased by the eagle, took shelter on the lap of MahÄrÄja Åšibi, and the hunter eagle wanted the pigeon back from the King. The King wanted to give it some other meat to eat and requested the bird not to kill the pigeon. The hunter bird refused to accept the King’s offer, but it was settled later on that the eagle would accept flesh from the body of the King of the pigeon’s equivalent weight. The King began to cut flesh from his body to weigh in the balance equivalent to the weight of the pigeon, but the mystic pigeon always remained heavier. The King then put himself on the balance to equate with the pigeon, and the demigods were pleased with him. The King of heaven and the fire-god disclosed their identity, and the King was blessed by them. Devará¹£i NÄrada also glorified MahÄrÄja Åšibi for his great achievements, specifically in charity and protection. MahÄrÄja Åšibi sacrificed his own son for the satisfaction of human beings in his kingdom. And thus child ParÄ«ká¹£it was to become a second Åšibi in charity and protection.

Dauá¹£yanti Bharata: There are many Bharatas in history, of which Bharata the brother of Lord RÄma, Bharata the son of King Ṛṣabha, and Bharata the son of MahÄrÄja Duá¹£yanta are very famous. And all these Bharatas are historically known to the universe. This earth planet is known as BhÄrata, or BhÄrata-vará¹£a, due to King Bharata the son of Ṛṣabha, but according to some this land is known as BhÄrata due to the reign of the son of Duá¹£yanta. So far as we are convinced, this land’s name BhÄrata-vará¹£a was established from the reign of Bharata the son of King Ṛṣabha. Before him the land was known as IlÄvá¹›ta-vará¹£a, but just after the coronation of Bharata, the son of Ṛṣabha, this land became famous as BhÄrata-vará¹£a.

But despite all this, Bharata the son of MahÄrÄja Duá¹£yanta was not less important. He is the son of the famous beauty ÅšakuntalÄ. MahÄrÄja Duá¹£yanta fell in love with ÅšakuntalÄ in the forest, and Bharata was conceived. After that, MahÄrÄja forgot his wife ÅšakuntalÄ by the curse of Kaṇva Muni, and the child Bharata was brought up in the forest by his mother. Even in his childhood he was so powerful that he challenged the lions and elephants in the forest and would fight with them as little children play with cats and dogs. Because of the boy’s becoming so strong, more than the so-called modern Tarzan, the ṛṣis in the forest called him Sarvadamana, or one who is able to control everyone. A full description of MahÄrÄja Bharata is given in the MahÄbhÄrata, Ä€di-parva. The PÄṇá¸avas, or the Kurus, are sometimes addressed as BhÄrata due to being born in the dynasty of the famous MahÄrÄja Bharata, the son of King Duá¹£yanta.