The Dear Deer

Bharatha, the emperor, who had given up his vast and flourishing empire, power, property and prosperity, Bharatha who had moved away from his own children in order to seek god; was unable to keep himself away from the fawn.

The deer became his dearest possession and distraction. Feeding it, bathing it, chiding it, lovingly stroking it, showering it with love took up all his time. The deer which knew no one else, reciprocated Bharatha’s love. It would follow him everywhere, sometimes eating up the offerings meant for the gods and often nudging him out of his meditative state.

As his love for the fawn grew, Bharatha’s devotion to the lord dimmed, till he gave up his meditation and worship completely.

The Disappearance

Despite keeping a hawk’s eye on the fawn in order to ensure its safety, Bharatha could not prevent it from wandering off, every now and then. And whenever Bharatha could not spot the fawn near the hermitage, he searched for it desperately. As he felt the evening draw near, he would get extremely worried about what would happen to his dear deer. His mind was filled with thoughts of how the deer would be unable to manage without him, and nothing else. As the days passed, Bharatha did not realise that the evening of his life had drawn near too.

The Final Thoughts

The scriptures* describe that one’s last thoughts at the time of death, either born of intense attachment or intense loathing, determine his future birth. In order to experience the memory of god in the final moments, and thereby achieve salvation, one has to be constantly thinking of him throughout their life**. Final thoughts are not random thoughts but are the result of constant engagement with the object/s of attachment/ hatred.

*Including the Bhagavad Gita, in which Krishna states that, “yam yam vaapi smaran bhaavam tyajatyante kalevaram tam tam evaiti kaunteya sadaa taad-bhaava-bhaavitaḥ” in Chapter 8, verse 6.

Its literal translation is:

Whatever one remembers while giving up the body at the time of death, O son of Kunti, one attains that state…

Swami Mukundaananda elaborates further: Shree Krishna states in this verse, whatever thoughts prominently dominate a person’s mind at the moment of death determine his or her next birth. However, one should not conclude that God-realisation can be attained merely by meditating upon God at the time of death. When we plan our travel, it requires careful planning and execution beforehand; we cannot make our plans after we pack our baggage.

For example, with a lot of effort, one may teach their pet parrot to say “Hello” or “Have a good day.” However, if someone attacks the parrot, it forgets all that it has learnt, and screeches in its natural sound of “Te-Te.” Likewise, the channels of thoughts that we create through lifelong habit, the same thoughts will naturally flow into our mind at the time of death. What we constantly contemplate and meditate upon throughout our life are influenced by our daily habits and associations. Therefore, it is natural that these would continue to determine our final thoughts.

** santhatham chintayeham anthya kaale visheshataha… Madhwaachaarya, too, has explicitly stated that “Only constant remembrance of Hari throughout one’s life, can ensure his remembrance at the time of death” in one of his twelve hymns (the Dwaadasha stotra) titled, Vande vandyam sadaanandam Vaasudevam Niranjanam

To be continued…