THE INCARNATIONS OF KING BHARATA

Canto 5, Chapter 7, Verse 1

śrī-śuka uvāca

bharatas tu mahā-bhāgavato yadā
bhagavatāvani-tala-paripālanāya
sañcintitas tad-anuśāsana-paraḥ
pañcajanīṁ viśvarūpa-duhitaram upayeme

Sage Sukadev continued speaking to King Parikshit, My dear, King Bharata was a foremost devotee. Following the instructions of his father, who had already decided to put him on the throne, he began to rule the earth accordingly. When King Bharata ruled the entire world, he followed the orders of his father and married Panchajani, the daughter of Viswarupa.

Sage Sukadev tells King Parikshit that King Bharata, the eldest son of Rishabhadeva was a great devotee of Narayana. Before his father retired to the forest, He crowned Bharata as His heir, and He said to His other children, “Bharata is no different from Me.” He gave him all His punya, and infused Himself into Bharata. That’s why Bharata was one of the greatest devotees of the Lord. When the time came, he was married to Panchajani, the daughter of King Vishwarupa. She bore him five sons.

Following the example of his father, after he had successfully done his duty as a king, he gave the kingdom to his son. Then, he retired himself to perform penance, to worship, and to meditate on Narayana. He went to Pralahashrama. There he looked for a place on the Gandaki river, where he made his ashram as a small place to live as a sannyasin.