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In the royal assembly Bharata says that the guru has given him good teaching, and that the people and the ministers agree. Kausalya has given her order, he says, and he wishes to take it on his head. His heart, he says, finds no contentment, and he asks for leave to go to Rama. The assembly answers with praise, and asks that he go where Rama is, to the forest.
In this episode Bharata asks whether the assembly means his good by this, or some great work of its own. His good, he says, is the service of Rama, and without Rama all that is his is in vain. He names himself Kaikeyi’s son, and says that the earth will sink if the kingdom is given him by force. He calls himself the cause of all the evil, and tells the hardness of his heart. He names what Kaikeyi gave to Lakshmana, Rama, and Sita and to her husband, and what she took on herself. He names what she gave the people and him. He says that Kausalya speaks from love, and that even the guru readies the things for the tilak, the mark of kingship. He speaks of the one fire in his breast, and of Lakshmana’s gain. At dawn, he says, he will go to Rama, and he asks the elders for their order and blessing. He trusts that Rama will not forsake him.
The assembly that hears Bharata’s entreaty
The main figures in this episode
- Bharata the son who answers the counsel to rule. He says that he wishes to carry out what the guru taught and Kausalya ordered. Though he understands it well, his heart finds no contentment. He asks if they think his rule his good or their own great work. He calls the service of Rama his good and asks for leave to go to him. He names himself Kaikeyi’s son, crooked-minded and shameless, a home of sin, and a fool who sits in his senses and hears it all. He tells what each had from Kaikeyi. It is his evil day, he says, and no one’s fault. He speaks of Kausalya’s simple heart and the guru’s discernment. He says he fears no blame from the world and has no worry for the next world, and that one fire dwells in his breast. He says that at dawn he will go to Rama, and asks the elders to give their order and blessing in fine words. Rama, he trusts, will know him as his own. The assembly praises him and calls his plan good.
- Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana the three in the forest, of whom Bharata speaks to the assembly. Without the sight of their feet, he says, a kingdom is a host of sorrow. He says that Kaikeyi gave the forest to Lakshmana, Rama, and Sita. Apart from Rama and Sita, he says, no one will say the deed had no consent of his. Lakshmana, he says, won the gain of life well, and set his mind on Rama’s feet. Rama, he says, is the home of grace and love, and has done nothing bad even to an enemy. Bharata trusts that Rama will forgive him and not forsake him. To Rama, the assembly says, he is dear as life.
- Vasishtha the guru, whose good teaching Bharata says he wishes to carry out. Bharata calls him the sea of discernment, whom the world knows, to whom the universe is a jujube in the palm. Even he, Bharata says, readies the things for the tilak. He is among those who, distraught with love, praise Bharata.
- Kausalya Rama’s mother, who, Bharata says, has given her order, holding it fitting. He calls her very simple-hearted, with a special love for him. She speaks by her nature, he says, in the power of love, seeing his wretchedness.
- Kaikeyi Bharata’s mother, whose crookedness, he says, took away his good. He says that she gave the forest to the three and sent her husband to the city of the immortals. She took widowhood and infamy on herself, he says, and gave the people sorrow and torment. To him, he says, she gave happiness, fair fame, and a good kingdom. He calls her his bad mother and names his birth from her womb. Whoever suspects him over her crookedness, the assembly says, will dwell in hell.
- The ministers and citizens the assembly that hears him. The people and the ministers agree, Bharata says, and all of them tell him to have the tilak put on. He asks them to say at their ease whatever each likes, and he asks their elders for an order and a blessing. With the mothers and the guru they become distraught with love and praise him. They ask Bharata to go where Rama is, and say that he has given a support to all who were drowning in the sea of sorrow.
The order honored, and a heart without contentment
Bharata spoke to the assembly. “The guru gave me good teaching. The people, the ministers, everyone agrees. Mother gave her order, holding it fitting. I surely wish to take it on my head and do it.”
“Hearing the words of guru, father, mother, master, and well-wisher, one should do them with a glad mind, knowing them good. In weighing fit and unfit, dharma goes, and the load of sin climbs on the head.”
“You give me that simple counsel, in following which my well-being comes. Though I understand this well, my heart finds no contentment.”
“Now hear my entreaty, and give me counsel to my measure. I give an answer. Forgive the offense. The good do not count the faults and merits of the grieving.”
“Father is in heaven, Sita and Rama in the forest, and you tell me to rule. By this, do you know my good, or some great work of your own?”
What is anything worth without Rama?
Bharata went on. “My good is in the service of Rama. That, my mother’s crookedness took away. Weighing it, I have seen it in my mind. There is no good for me by any other way.”
“A kingdom, a host of sorrow, what is it worth without the sight of the feet of Lakshmana, Rama, and Sita? Ornaments without clothes are a load, in vain. Inquiry into Brahman without dispassion is in vain.”
“Many pleasures for a sick body are in vain. Without bhakti to the Lord, japa and yoga go to waste. A handsome body without life goes to waste. Without Rama, all that is mine is in vain.”
“Let me go to Rama. Give me leave. One thing is certain. My good is in this. In making me king you want your own well-being. That too you say in the power of the dullness of love.”
“Kaikeyi’s son, crooked-minded, turned away from Rama, shameless. From the rule of one as low as I, you want happiness, in the power of delusion.”
A home of sin, and breaths that stayed
Bharata went on. “I tell the truth. All of you, hearing it, believe it. A king should be dharma-minded. The moment you give me the kingdom by force, that moment the earth will sink to the underworld.”
“Who is such a home of sin as I, for whose sake Sita and Rama live in exile in the forest? The king gave Rama the forest, and at the parting he went to the city of the immortals. I, the fool, the cause of all the evil, sit in my senses and hear it all. Seeing the house without Rama, and bearing the world’s mockery, these breaths have stayed.”
“These breaths are dry to the pure savor of Rama. Greedy, they are hungry for land and pleasures. How far shall I tell the hardness of my heart, which has won greatness by slighting the thunderbolt?” The commentary gives the dryness as the reason the breaths stayed.
“The effect is harder than its cause. The fault is not mine. From bone the thunderbolt, from stone iron, fierce and hard.”
“These vile breaths, full of love for the body born of Kaikeyi, are unfortunate to the full. If in parting from my beloved these breaths are dear to me, I shall now see and hear much more ahead.”
What Kaikeyi gave, and to whom
Bharata went on. “To Lakshmana, Rama, and Sita she gave the forest. Sending her husband to the city of the immortals, she did him good. She took widowhood and infamy on herself. She gave the people sorrow and torment.”
“To me she gave happiness, fair fame, and a good kingdom. Kaikeyi did everyone’s work. What is better for me now than this? On top of that you speak of giving me the tilak.”
“For me, born into the world from Kaikeyi’s womb, nothing is unfitting. The Creator has made all my story. Why do you, the people and the elders, help?”
“One is seized by a planet, then in the grip of wind, and then a scorpion stings him. To him wine is given to drink. Say, what kind of remedy is that?” The commentary adds that the one seized may be seized by a ghoul.
A mother’s love, a guru’s discernment
Bharata went on. “What in the world is fit for Kaikeyi’s son, that quick-witted Brahma gave me. To me, Dasharatha’s son and Rama’s younger brother, the Creator gave greatness in vain.”
“You all tell me to have the tilak put on. The king’s order is good for all. In what way shall I answer, and to whom? Say at your ease whatever each of you likes.”
“Setting me aside, with my bad mother, say, who will say this was well done? Who, in all that moves and all that stands still, is there apart from me, to whom Sita and Rama are not dear as life?”
“The greatest loss is great gain to you all. It is my evil day. It is no one’s fault. You are in the power of doubt, good conduct, and love. All that you say is fitting, all of it.”
“Rama’s mother is very simple-hearted, and her love for me is special. She speaks by her nature, in the power of love, seeing my wretchedness.”
“The guru is the sea of discernment, and the world knows it. To him the universe is a jujube in the palm. Even he readies the things for the tilak for me. When the Creator turns away, everyone turns away.”
One unbearable fire
Bharata went on. “Apart from Rama and Sita, no one in the world will say that this had no consent of mine. That I shall hear and bear, holding it happiness. In the end there is mud where there is water.”
“I have no fear that the world will call me base. Nor have I worry for the next world. One unbearable forest fire dwells in my breast, that Sita and Rama came to grief for my sake.”
“Lakshmana won the gain of life well. Leaving everything, he set his mind on Rama’s feet. My birth was for Rama’s exile in the forest. Why do I, unfortunate, regret falsely?”
“Bowing my head to all, I tell my terrible wretchedness. Without the sight of Rama’s feet, the burning of my heart will not go.”
The dawn resolve to go to Rama
Bharata went on. “I see no other way. Who understands my heart, without Rama? One thing is certain, this alone, in my mind. At dawn I will go to Rama.”
“Though I am bad and an offender, and all this trouble came for my sake, yet, seeing me before him in refuge and forgiving all, he will show special grace.”
“Rama is the home of good conduct, shyness, a very simple nature, grace, and love. Rama has done nothing bad even to an enemy. I am his child and servant, though I am contrary.”
“You, the elders, holding this my well-being, give your order and blessing in fine words. By that, hearing my entreaty and knowing me his servant, Rama may come back to the capital.”
“Though my birth is from a bad mother, and I am a fool, ever at fault, Rama will not forsake me, knowing me his own. That is my trust.”
Bharata’s words give the assembly a support
Bharata’s words were dear to all. It was as if they were soaked in the nectar of Rama’s love. The people had been scorched by the fierce poison of parting. It was as if they woke on hearing a mantra with its seed.
The mothers, the ministers, the guru, and the city’s men and women all became greatly distraught with love. Praising and praising, they said to Bharata, “Your body is the image of Rama’s love. Bharata, dear one, why would you not speak so? To Rama you are dear as life.”
“The vile man who in his own dullness suspects you over your mother’s crookedness, that fool, with ten million ancestors, will dwell a hundred kalpas in the house of hell. The jewel does not take on the snake’s sin and defect. It takes away poison, and burns away grief and poverty.”
“Surely, do go to the forest where Rama is. Bharata has made a good plan. You have given a support to all who were drowning in the sea of sorrow.”
The course of the episode
Bharata told the assembly that he surely wished to do as he was told, and that his heart found no contentment. He asked whether they saw his good in it, or a great work of their own. He set his good in Rama’s service and asked for leave to go to Rama. He named himself Kaikeyi’s son, low, and said the earth would sink if the kingdom were forced on him.
He said he was the cause of all the evil, a fool who sat and heard it all. He named what Kaikeyi had given each, and said that on top of it they spoke of the tilak. It was his evil day, he said, and the fault was no one’s. Of Kausalya he said that she spoke from love. Even the guru, he said, readied the things for the tilak. He spoke of the fire in his breast and of the gain Lakshmana had won. He said he would go to Rama at dawn, and asked the elders to order and bless him. He trusted that Rama would know him as his own and not forsake him.
His words were dear to everyone. The mothers, ministers, guru, and city’s people were all distraught with love, and praised him. They said that whoever suspected him over Kaikeyi’s crookedness would dwell in hell. They asked him to go to the forest where Rama was, called his plan good, and said he had given all a support.
The same story, elsewhere: Valmiki’s Ramayana, chapter 10: The Coming of Bharata, and the Sandals.
Source: the Gita Press edition of Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas, Ayodhyakand, doha 177 to 184, read with Hanuman Prasad Poddar’s Hindi commentary.