वानुकम्पया राजर्षिर्भरत आदाय मृतमातरमित्याश्रमपदमनयत् ॥७॥
taá¹ tv eṇa-kuṇakaá¹ ká¹›paṇaá¹ srotasÄnÅ«hyamÄnam abhivÄ«ká¹£yÄpaviddhaá¹ bandhur ivÄnukampayÄ rÄjará¹£ir bharata ÄdÄya má¹›ta-mÄtaram ity ÄÅ›rama-padam anayat
tam - that; tu - but; eṇa-kuṇakam - the deer calf; ká¹›paṇam - helpless; srotasÄ - by the waves; anÅ«hyamÄnam - floating; abhivÄ«ká¹£ya - seeing; apaviddham - removed from its own kind; bandhuḥ iva - just like a friend; anukampayÄ - with compassion; rÄja-ṛṣiḥ bharataḥ - the great, saintly King Bharata; ÄdÄya - taking; má¹›ta-mÄtaram - who lost its mother; iti - thus thinking; ÄÅ›rama-padam - to the ÄÅ›rama; anayat - brought.
The great King Bharata, while sitting on the bank of the river, saw the small deer, bereft of its mother, floating down the river. Seeing this, he felt great compassion. Like a sincere friend, he lifted the infant deer from the waves, and, knowing it to be motherless, brought it to his ÄÅ›rama.
The laws of nature work in subtle ways unknown to us. MahÄrÄja Bharata was a great king very advanced in devotional service. He had almost reached the point of loving service to the Supreme Lord, but even from that platform he could fall down onto the material platform. In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ we are therefore warned:
yaá¹ hi na vyathayanty ete
puruá¹£aá¹ puruá¹£ará¹£abha
sama-duḥkha-sukhaá¹ dhÄ«raá¹
so ’má¹›tatvÄya kalpate
“O best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.†(Bg. 2.15)
Spiritual salvation and liberation from material bondage must be worked out with great caution, otherwise a little discrepancy will cause one to fall down again into material existence. By studying the activities of MahÄrÄja Bharata, we can learn the art of becoming completely freed from all material attachment. As it will be revealed in later verses, Bharata MahÄrÄja had to accept the body of a deer due to being overly compassionate for this infant deer. We should be compassionate by raising one from the material platform to the spiritual platform; otherwise at any moment our spiritual advancement may be spoiled, and we may fall down onto the material platform. MahÄrÄja Bharata’s compassion for the deer was the beginning of his falldown into the material world.
