Bharata

O saint, what is the use of the enjoyment of pleasures in this offensive, pitiless body? A mere mass of bones, skin, sinew, marrow, flesh, seed, blood, mucus, tears, phlegm, odour, water, bile, and slime.

What is the use of the enjoyment of pleasures in this body which is assailed by lust, hatred, greed, delusion, fear, anguish, jealousy, separation from what is loved, union with what is not loved, hunger, thirst, old age, death, illness, grief, and other evils? and we see that all this is perishable as these flies gnats and other insects as herbs and trees growing and decaying and what of these there are other great ones mighty wielders of bows rulers of empires Yayuvanasva, Vadrayasva, Asvapati, Sasbindo, Harishchandra, Ambarisha, Nahausha, Ananta, Saryati, Yayati, Anaranya, Ukshasena, etc., and kings such as Maruta, Bharata, dhanushyanti and others who before the eyes of their whole family surrendered the greatest happiness and passed on from this world to that and what of these there are other great ones we see the destruction of gandharvas asuras yakshas rakshasas bhutas gunas pisachas snakes and vampires and what of these there is the drying up of other great oceans the falling of mountains the moving of the pole star the cutting of the wind ropes that hold the stars the submergence of the earth and the departure of the gods suras from their place in such a world as this what is the use of the enjoyment of pleasures if he who has fed on them is seen to return to this world again and again designed therefore to take me out in this world i am like a frog in a dry well o saint thou art my way thou art my way ebook of first prapataka by jyothi Second Prabhataka of Maitrayaniya Upanishad.

Translated by Max Muller.

This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.

The king was growing old and wished to hand over the cares of government to Rama.

Indeed, he began to make preparations for doing so when he was arrested by the anger of one of his wives, the mother of Prince Bharata, who himself had no desire to live in enmity with his beloved brother Rama, the idol of the city.

The king endeavored to appease the jealousy of the offended queen, but she demanded that Rama should be banished to the forests for a period of fourteen years, while her own son Bharata should be made ruler in place of his father.

The old king was so much under her influence that he was forced to consent, and then to his further grief he was told that Rama, with true greatness of soul, had undertaken to go into voluntary exile in order that the peace of the happy city might be preserved.

The people of Ayodhya were filled with grief when they heard the news, but they were powerless in the matter, and Rama made his preparations without further delay.

Here they settled down to the hermit's life, living on the game in which the forest abounded and the fruits which grew in great profusion near their dwelling.

Meanwhile, in faraway Ayodhya, events of great importance were taking place.

The exile of Rama preyed so much upon the mind of the old king that he died and his son Bharata was called to the throne.

It is very difficult to judge.

And the other beautiful character which the Bhagavatam talks about is the King Bharata.

The King Bharata is a very pious king.

He has ruled his kingdom very well.

But unfortunately, you know, he takes a vanaprastha when he is older.

But when he is born in a Brahmin family, he is born a stupid.

This character is called Jadabharata in Bhagavatam.

He says, the useless Bharata, the inert Bharata.

For sure, on bloodshed all are bent who throng this plain, obeying Dhritarashtra's sinful son." Thus did Arjuna pray.

O Bharata! Between the hosts that heavenly charioteer drove the bright car, reining its milk-white steeds, where Bhishma led, and Drona, and their lords.

"See," spake he to Arjuna, "where they stand, thy kindred of the Kurus." And the prince marked on each hand the kinsmen of his house, grandsires and sires, uncles and brothers and sons, cousins and son-in-law and nephews, mixed with friends and honored elders, some this side, some that side ranged.

And seeing those opposed, such kith grown enemies, Arjuna's heart melted with pity, while he uttered this: "Krishna, as I behold, come here to shed their common blood, yon concourse of our kin, my members fail, my tongue dries in my mouth, a shudder thrills my body, and my hair bristles with horror.

Sense, mind, and reason, these, O Kunti's son, are booty for it.

In its play with these, it maddens man, beguiling, blinding him.

Therefore, though noblest child of Bharata, govern thy heart, constrain the entangled sense, resist the false, soft sinfulness which saps knowledge and judgment.

Yea, the world is strong, but what discerns it stronger and the mind strongest, and high over all, the ruling soul.

No, Ramanandi Sampradaya.

Okay, so someone bizarre, a great devotee, and he convinced this king, Pitri was his name, so much he made such an expression, that impression that Pitri, just like Bharata in the olden times, gave up his kingdom and became a sadhaka.

He chanted all day and night and he was developing very quickly the highest levels of bhakti.

Perhaps he had them already.

For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Anusha Iyer, Mumbai.

The Indian Storybook by Richard Wilson.

Preface.

The stories of this book are, for the most part, drawn from the two great Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

Other books from which I have drawn material are Sir Edwin Arnold's Indian Idols, Mr. R.C. Dutt's translation into English verse of selected portions of the Mahabharata, and Professor J. Campbell Oman's summaries of the two great epics.

The story of Shakuntala is told from the English prose translation of that drama of Kalidas, The Shakespeare of India, by Charles Wilkins, published at the request of Warren Hastings in 1785.

Richard Wilson End of Preface

Section 1 of the Indian Storybook This is a LibriVox recording.

We'll listen to the chanting first.

Yadayadahi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata

In verse 7, Lord Krishna says, Whenever dharma, righteousness declines and adharma, unrighteousness increases, then I manifest myself, O Bharata, descendant of Bharata.

Yes, these two verses, this 7 and 8 are very popular because...

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