Text 23
kiṁ vā are ācaritaṁ tapas tapasvinyānayā yad iyam avaniḥ savinaya-kṛṣṇa-sāra-tanaya-tanutara-subhaga-śivatamākhara-khura-pada-paṅktibhir draviṇa-vidhurāturasya kṛpaṇasya mama draviṇa-padavīṁ sūcayanty ātmānaṁ ca sarvataḥ kṛta-kautukaṁ dvijānāṁ svargāpavarga-kāmānāṁ deva-yajanaṁ karoti.
kim vā — what; are — oh; ācaritam — practiced; tapaḥ — penance; tapasvinyā — by the most fortunate; anayā — this planet earth; yat — since; iyam — this; avaniḥ — earth; sa-vinaya — very mild and well-behaved; kṛṣṇa-sāra-tanaya — of the calf of the black deer; tanutara — small; subhaga — beautiful; śiva-tama — most auspicious; akhara — soft; khura — of the hooves; pada-paṅktibhiḥ — by the series of the marks; draviṇa-vidhura-āturasya — who is very aggrieved because of loss of wealth; kṛpaṇasya — a most unhappy creature; mama — for me; draviṇa-padavīm — the way to achieve that wealth; sūcayanti — indicating; ātmānam — her own personal body; ca — and; sarvataḥ — on all sides; kṛta-kautukam — ornamented; dvijānām — of the brāhmaṇas; svarga-apavarga-kāmānām — who are desirous of achieving heavenly planets or liberation; deva-yajanam — a place of sacrifice to the demigods; karoti — it makes.
After speaking like a madman in this way, Mahārāja Bharata got up and went outside. Seeing the footprints of the deer on the ground, he praised the footprints out of love, saying: O unfortunate Bharata, your austerities and penances are very insignificant compared to the penance and austerity undergone by this earth planet. Due to the earth’s severe penances, the footprints of this deer, which are small, beautiful, most auspicious and soft, are imprinted on the surface of this fortunate planet. This series of footprints show a person like me, who am bereaved due to loss of the deer, how the animal has passed through the forest and how I can regain my lost wealth. By these footprints, this land has become a proper place for brāhmaṇas who desire heavenly planets or liberation to execute sacrifices to the demigods.
It is said that when a person becomes overly involved in loving affairs, he forgets himself as well as others, and he forgets how to act and how to speak. It is said that once when a man’s son was blind since birth, the father, out of staunch affection for the child, named him Padmalocana, or “lotus-eyed.” This is the situation arising from blind love. Bharata Mahārāja gradually fell into this condition due to his material love for the deer. It is said in the smṛti-śāstra:
yasmin deśe mṛgaḥ kṛṣṇas
tasmin dharmānn ivodhata
“That tract of land wherein the footprints of a black deer can be seen is to be understood as a suitable place to execute religious rituals.”