Vāmanāya namah

Rṣabha continued, “I am an embodiment of all divine energies. I remain beyond Nature, which is the cause for every existence. I am the Lord who blesses the living entity with heavenly comforts and liberation.

These Vedic Brahmin scholars (Brahma vetta) are absolutely devoted towards Me. Yet, they never seek anything from Me. They do not care for kingdom and other materialistic riches.

My dear sons! I exist within all living and non-living entities. I pervade everything. Therefore be wise and intelligent to eternally perceive My existence within every object of this universe. In this way offer worship (puja) to Me.

The real job of all sensory activities such as mind, speech, vision is to worship Me. Where this is not followed, the individual cannot escape the terrible noose called ignorance, which throws him into material bondages”. In this way Rṣabhadeva instructed his sons.

Rṣabha’s sons were perfectly educated in rules of righteousness. Even then, with the intent that entire society should benefit, Rṣabhadeva instructed his sons into the rules of righteousness.

Thereafter Rṣabhadeva, who had performed unimaginably supreme deeds, gave up action in entirety. He took up sanyāsa ashrama with the objective of teaching relevant principles pertaining to it to supreme Yogis, who are established in inner bliss, who are overflowing with supreme devotion and who are eternally peaceful.

His eldest son Bharata, an ardent devotee of the Lord, had supreme love towards other devotees. Rṣabha entrusted the responsibility of the kingdom to Bharata and crowned him the king. Thereafter he established the āhavani fire in him and discarded all luxuries within the palace itself. He was naked when he left the palace in Brahmavarta. With disheveled hair he appeared like a mad-man.

Like a deaf, dumb, blind, mad person he wandered everywhere. His body which was filled with dust appeared ghostly. He became an Avadhoota. He accepted the vow of silence and would not respond even when addressed. He wandered in solitude throughout earth walking through hamlets, villages, towns, cities, mountains, gardens, valleys, plains, hermitages, rest houses, houses of the cowherds, cattle sheds. As he travelled through some places, wicked persons would threaten him. Some would beat him. Some others poured urine over him. They would spit on him. At places they would throw stones, dung, stools and dust upon him. They left foul air upon him. Uttering harsh words they would torture him. However just as a wild elephant does not care for the mosquito, Rṣabha yogi would not care for these insults.

He was eternally established in the Self. He never had feelings of ‘I and mine’ towards this gross body made up of the 5 elements. He never attributed any actions performed by the body as his own. For this reason, the activities of others could not disturb his mind.

His long arms, feet, wide chest, broad shoulders, neck, face and other organs were extremely delicate. He had a beautiful body which was proportionate in every way. His face glowed with its natural beauty. His inherent charming smile added to its radiance. His reddish eyes resembled freshly blossomed lotus petals. His gaze appeared to dispel the sufferings of the people. His cheeks, ears, neck and nose were proportionate and beautiful. His laughing face filled people with enthusiasm. His gentle smile and lovely expressions captivated the hearts of married women.

You may doubt, how can an ascetic create lustful feelings in married women? Here it should be understood that not all woman developed lustful feelings towards him. Since he was an incarnation of Srihari and since illusion (māya) is under his control, only those women who already were filled with lust developed lustful feelings upon seeing him. To the wicked, he appeared wicked. To the lustful he appeared attractive. To those who were soaked in devotion towards Srihari he appeared like God.

Until now in Bhāgavatam many places we have described the form of the Supreme Lord. Here the form of the Lord when He incarnates as an Avadhoota is being wonderfully extolled. We are fortunate to be listening to this description.

His thick curly locks were disheveled. Due to accumulation of dust they were ashen. Due to negligence towards the body it was dirty. With this dirty body he appeared as if he was possessed by a ghost.

Rṣabhadeva felt that the people were disturbing his supreme state. In order to escape from them he thought of measures by which they would get terrified of him. Instantly he adopted the occupation of a python. It means like a python lying down in the same place without moving. He will not get up, sit or move. Like a log he remained motionless at that place. He ate food that came his way. Even to eat or drink water he did not sit up. He passed stools and urine there. When he rolled in them his body would get dirty. Rṣabha was a supreme Yogi. Therefore even these stools that stuck to his body were sweet smelling. The wind which touched his body carried those smells and due to this the distance of about 10 Yojanas (80 miles) was filled with this sweet perfume smell.

Rṣabha thereafter adopted the occupational activities of cow, crow and deer. He would walk like them. At times he would be standing like a statue. At other time he would be lying down. At times he would be eating; at other times he would pass urine and stools.

Trivikramāya namah