Mahabharatam WebSeries Episode-8 (History of Emperor Bharata) | సంపూర్ణ మహాభారతం భాగం-8 (భరతుడి చరిత్ర) | Maheedhar’s Planet Leaf (MPlanetLeaf) In Hindu scriptures, Bharata is an emperor and the founder of the Bhaarata dynasty and thus an ancestor of the Pandavas and the Kauravas in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. Though the Bhaaratas are a prominent community in the Rigveda, the story of Bharata is first told in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharatha, wherein he is the son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala. The story of his parents and his birth is also related in Kalidasa’s famous play Abhijnaanashaakuntala. King Dushyanta first encountered Shakuntala while travelling through the forest with his army. He was pursuing a male deer wounded by his weapon. Shakuntala and Dushyanta fell in love with each other and got married as per Gandharva marriage system. Before returning to his kingdom, Dushyanta gave his personal royal ring to Shakuntala as a symbol of his promise to return and bring her to his palace. Shakuntala spent much time dreaming of her new husband and was often distracted by her daydreams. One day, a powerful rishi, Durvasa, came to the ashrama but, lost in her thoughts about Dushyanta, Shakuntala failed to greet him properly. Incensed by this slight, the rishi cursed Shakuntala, saying that the person she was dreaming of would forget about her altogether. As he departed in a rage, one of Shakuntala’s friends quickly explained to him the reason for her friend’s distraction. The rishi, realizing that his extreme wrath was not warranted, modified his curse saying that the person who had forgotten Shakuntala would remember everything again if she showed him a personal token that had been given to her. Time passed, and Shakuntala, wondering why Dushyanta did not return for her, finally set out for the capital city with her foster father and some of her companions. On the way, they had to cross a river by a canoe ferry and, seduced by the deep blue waters of the river, Shakuntala ran her fingers through the water. Her ring (Dushyanta’s ring) slipped off her finger without her realizing it. Arriving at Dushyanta’s court, Shakuntala was hurt and surprised when her husband did not recognize her, nor recollected anything about her. She tried to remind him that she was his wife but without the ring, Dushyanta did not recognize her… According to the Mahabharata (Adi Parva), Bharata was the son of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala and thus a descendant of the Lunar dynasty of the Kshatriya Varna. He was originally named Sarvadamana (“the subduer of all”); the Mahabharata traces the events in his life by which he came to be known as Bharata (“the cherished”). Emperor Bharata gave his name to the dynasty of which he was the founder. It was in the Bharatas’ dynasty that later the Pandavas of epic Mahabharata were born. Bharata performed many sacrifices and Sage Kanva was the chief priest at those sacrifices. Bharata performed a hundred Horse sacrifices on the banks of the Yamuna, three hundred on the banks of Saraswati and four hundred on the banks of the Ganga. He again performed a thousand Horse sacrifices and a hundred Rajasuya. He also conducted sacrifices such as Agnishtoma, Atiratra, Uktha and Viswajit. He also performed many thousands of Vajapeyas. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mplanetleaf/message