FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.72.21

హరిశ్చన్ద్రో రన్తిదేవ ఉఞ్ఛవృత్తి: శిబిర్బలి: । వ్యాధ: కపోతో బహవో హ్యధ్రువేణ ధ్రువం గతా: ॥ ౨౧ ॥
hariścandro rantideva
[harishchandro rantideva]
uñchavṛttiḥ śibir baliḥ
[unchavrittih shibir balih]
vyādhaḥ kapoto bahavo
[vyaadhah kapoto bahavo]
hy adhruveṇa dhruvaṁ gatāḥ
[hy adhruvena dhruvam gataah]
hariścandraḥ rantidevaḥ — Hariścandra and Rantideva uñcha - vṛttiḥ — Mudgala, who lived by gathering grains left behind in the fields after the harvest śibiḥ baliḥ — Śibi and Bali vyādhaḥ — the hunter kapotaḥ — the pigeon bahavaḥ — many hi — indeed adhruveṇa — by the temporary dhruvam — to the permanent gatāḥ — went .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
hariścandro rantideva
hariścandraḥ rantidevaḥ
Hariścandra and Rantideva
uñchavṛttiḥ śibir baliḥ
uñcha - vṛttiḥ
Mudgala, who lived by gathering grains left behind in the fields after the harvest
śibiḥ baliḥ
Śibi and Bali
vyādhaḥ kapoto bahavo
vyādhaḥ
the hunter
kapotaḥ
the pigeon
bahavaḥ
many
hi
indeed
hy adhruveṇa dhruvaṁ gatāḥ
adhruveṇa
by the temporary
dhruvam
to the permanent
gatāḥ
went .
  • hariścandraḥ-rantidevaḥ — Hariścandra and Rantideva
    Compound nominative. Two paragon kings — Hariścandra for satya (truth), Rantideva for tyāga (renunciation). Both lost everything material; both attained dhruva fame still sung.
  • uñcha-vṛttiḥ — Mudgala, who lived by gathering grains
    Compound. Uñcha-vṛtti is the discipline of subsisting only on post-harvest leftovers — refusing to demand even from one's own field. The most uncompromising form of brāhmaṇical aparigraha.
  • śibiḥ-baliḥ — Śibi and Bali
    Compound. Śibi gave his flesh, Bali the universe. Both names also appear in Vaiṣṇava liturgy as paradigms of dāna culminating in the Lord's mercy.
  • adhruveṇa — by the temporary
    Instrumental. The pivot word. The same word's opposite (dhruvam) immediately follows — instrument and goal in one śloka. Use the unfixed to obtain the fixed.
Hariścandra, Rantideva, Uñchavṛtti Mudgala, Śibi, Bali, the legendary hunter and pigeon, and many others have attained the permanent by means of the impermanent.

Here Lord Kṛṣṇa and the two Pāṇḍavas are pointing out to Jarāsandha that one can use the temporary material body to achieve a permanent situation in life. Because Jarāsandha was a materialist, they appealed to his natural interest in the heavenly planets, where life lasts so long that it appears permanent to people on earth. Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī briefly summarizes the history of the personalities mentioned in this verse: “To pay off his debts to Viśvāmītra, Hariścandra sold everything he had, including his wife and children. Yet even after attaining the status of a caṇḍāla, he did not become discouraged; thus he went to heaven, together with all the inhabitants of Ayodhyā. Rantideva, after going without even water for forty-eight days, somehow obtained some food and water, but then some beggars came and he gave it all away to them. In this way he attained Brahmaloka. Mudgala followed the practice of gathering grains left behind in the fields after the harvest. Yet still he was hospitable toward uninvited guests, even after his family had been suffering in poverty for six months. Thus he also went to Brahmaloka. “To protect a pigeon who had taken shelter of him, King Śibi gave his own flesh to a hawk and attained heaven. Bali Mahārāja gave all his property to Lord Hari when the Lord disguised Himself as a dwarf brāhmaṇa (Vāmanadeva), and so Bali gained the Lord’s personal association. The pigeon and his mate gave their own flesh to a hunter as a show of hospitality, and thus they were taken to heaven in a celestial airplane. When the hunter understood their situation in the mode of goodness, he also became renounced, and thus he gave up hunting and went off to perform severe austerities. Because he was freed of all sins, after his body burned to death in a forest fire he was elevated to heaven. Thus many personalities have attained enduring life on higher planets by means of the temporary material body.”

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Hariścandra, Rantideva, Uṣchavṛtti Mudgala, Śibi, Bali, the legendary hunter and pigeon, and many others have attained the permanent by means of the impermanent.
Commentary

Though Hariscandra sold his wife and sons and degraded himself to the candala status out of a debt to Visvamitra, he attained svarga along with the residents of Ayodhya. Though Ranti deva and his wife had not eaten for forty eighty four days, by giving what little they attained of food and water to those needing it the attained Brahma loka. Mudgala, who obtained food only by gathering the fallen grains in the harvested field, entertained a guest for six months while he and his wife suffered, attained Brahma loka. Sibi, in order to protect a pigeon that took shelter of him, offered his own flesh to a hawk and attained svarga. Bali gave everything he had to the Lord dressed as a brahmana, and brought the Lord under his control. The pigeon gave his own and wife’s flesh to the hunter who was his guest and attained heaven in a celestial vehicle. The hunter seeing the pigeons’ high level of goodness, became detached, performed austerities and after his body burned in a forest fire attained heaven. And others also, using the temporary material body attained the worlds of long life.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

They give proof from the behavior of the saintly.

Related values
Sthitaprajna (Steady Wisdom)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Discriminative WisdomAbhaya (Fearlessness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Saurya (Heroism / Bravery)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)
Related verses

Seven names listed like seven rungs of a ladder — and Kṛṣṇa hands the ladder to Jarāsandha mid-flattery. Each of these figures spent perishable currency for permanent gain; the proverb is also an invitation: climb.

Rantideva's last morsel

Rantideva, fasting for forty-eight days, was about to break his fast when guests came begging — first a brāhmaṇa, then a śūdra, then a caṇḍāla with dogs, then a thirsty outcaste asking for water. He gave away each portion in turn, including the water that would have saved his life, saying he asked nothing of the Lord except to bear the suffering of every being. The dhruva fame the verse points to is Rantideva's actual life. (Bhāgavata 9.21.)

Śibi and the pigeon

King Śibi, when a pigeon flew into his lap pursued by a hawk, offered the hawk his own flesh in equal weight to ransom the bird. The scales would not balance; he climbed onto the scales himself. Both verses 20 and 21 hang on this episode — and the hunter and the pigeon mentioned next are characters from the same tradition of jīva-rakṣā as supreme virtue.

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