GITA - Glorification of Chapter Four

Lord Vishnu then described the glories of the fourth chapter of the 

Bhagavad-gita.

 He told of a saint named Bharata, who lived on the bank of the 

Ganges.

 There the devoted Bharata daily recited the fourth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita.

Once, Bharata went on pilgrimage to the town of Tapodhana and saw a Deity of Lord Krishna. On his way home he rested beneath two fruit trees, using the root of one as a pillow and the root of the other as a foot-rest. There, as usual, he recited the fourth chapter. When Bharata left that place, both trees dried up and died. The two souls living in those trees took their next births as daughters of a pious brahmana.

When the girls reached seven years of age, they went on pilgrimage and happened to meet the great sage Bharata. Upon seeing him, they fell at his feet and said in sweet words, “O Maharaja Bharata, by your mercy we were freed from the forms of trees.” Bharata heard this with surprise. Then the girls narrated their story to Bharata.

“Dear Maharaja Bharata, in a previous life we were apsaras, heavenly nymphs. Once, we were ordered by King Indra to cause the falldown of the sage Satya-tapa, who was performing difficult austerities on the bank of the river Godavari. Satya-tapa had complete control over his senses and had become so advanced in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead that Brahma the creator of the universe, daily visited him to inquire from him about devotional service.

But Indra was displeased to see Satya-tapa’s purity and elevation. Indra worried that this powerful sage would one day want to usurp the position of king of heaven. To prevent this, Indra sent us to the bank of the Godavari. There we danced provocatively to sexually agitate the sage and seduce him and Satya-tapa cursed us, saying, ‘You both go and become fruit trees on the bank of the river Ganga.

Upon hearing his curse, we fell at his feet and begged forgiveness, for we had acted merely as Indra’s servants. When Satya-tapa saw our repentant attitude, he became pleased and told us we would live as trees only until Maharaja Bharata came in contact with us. He also blessed us that we would be able to remember our previous lives.”

Reminding Bharata that he had rested between two fruit trees, the two girls said they had heard his recitation of the fourth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, After being freed from that form of life, they said, they had been born in a family of devotees. Since then they had lost all desire to enjoy this world. They had carefully been reciting the fourth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita daily and thus had attained devotion to the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu.

source: folknet