Texts 1-2
śrī-śuka uvāca
atha kasyacid dvija-varasyāṅgiraḥ-pravarasya śama-dama-tapaḥ-svādhyāyādhyayana-tyāga-santoṣa-titikṣā-praśraya-vidyānasūyātma-jñānānanda-yuktasyātma-sadṛśa-śruta-śīlācāra-rūpaudārya-guṇā nava sodaryā aṅgajā babhūvur mithunaṁ ca yavīyasyāṁ bhāryāyām yas tu tatra pumāṁs taṁ parama-bhāgavataṁ rājarṣi-pravaraṁ bharatam utsṛṣṭa-mṛga-śarīraṁ carama-śarīreṇa vipratvaṁ gatam āhuḥ.
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued to speak; atha — thereafter; kasyacit — of some; dvija-varasya — brāhmaṇa; aṅgiraḥ-pravarasya — who came in the dynasty of the great saint Aṅgirā; śama — control of the mind; dama — control of the senses; tapaḥ — practice of austerities and penances; svādhyāya — recitation of the Vedic literatures; adhyayana — studying; tyāga — renunciation; santoṣa — satisfaction; titikṣā — tolerance; praśraya — very gentle; vidyā — knowledge; anasūya — without envy; ātma-jñāna-ānanda — satisfied in self-realization; yuktasya — who was qualified with; ātma-sadṛśa — and exactly like himself; śruta — in education; śīla — in character; ācāra — in behavior; rūpa — in beauty; audārya — in magnanimity; guṇāḥ — possessing all these qualities; nava sa-udaryāḥ — nine brothers born of the same womb; aṅga-jāḥ — sons; babhūvuḥ — were born; mithunam — a twin brother and sister; ca — and; yavīyasyām — in the youngest; bhāryāyām — wife; yaḥ — who; tu — but; tatra — there; pumān — the male child; tam — him; parama-bhāgavatam — the most exalted devotee; rāja-ṛṣi — of saintly kings; pravaram — most honored; bharatam — Bharata Mahārāja; utsṛṣṭa — having given up; mṛga-śarīram — the body of a deer; carama-śarīreṇa — with the last body; vipratvam — being a brāhmaṇa; gatam — obtained; āhuḥ — they said.
Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, after giving up the body of a deer, Bharata Mahārāja took birth in a very pure brāhmaṇa family. There was a brāhmaṇa who belonged to the dynasty of Aṅgirā. He was fully qualified with brahminical qualifications. He could control his mind and senses, and he had studied the Vedic literatures and other subsidiary literatures. He was expert in giving charity, and he was always satisfied, tolerant, very gentle, learned and nonenvious. He was self-realized and engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. He remained always in a trance. He had nine equally qualified sons by his first wife, and by his second wife he begot twins — a brother and a sister, of which the male child was said to be the topmost devotee and foremost of saintly kings — Bharata Mahārāja. This, then, is the story of the birth he took after giving up the body of a deer.
Bharata Mahārāja was a great devotee, but he did not attain success in one life. In Bhagavad-gītā it is said that a devotee who does not fulfill his devotional duties in one life is given the chance to be born in a fully qualified brāhmaṇa family or a rich kṣatriya or vaiśya family. Śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe (Bg. 6.41). Bharata Mahārāja was the firstborn son of Mahārāja Ṛṣabha in a rich kṣatriya family, but due to his willful negligence of his spiritual duties and his excessive attachment to an insignificant deer, he was obliged to take birth as the son of a deer. However, due to his strong position as a devotee, he was gifted with the remembrance of his past life. Being repentant, he remained in a solitary forest and always thought of Kṛṣṇa. Then he was given the chance to take birth in a very good brāhmaṇa family.