Bharata Vows to Bring Rama Back
Ayodhyakanda - Sarga 73
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Ayodhyakanda - Sarga 73
Bharata's impassioned speech condemns Kaikeyi's actions, upholds royal tradition, and vows to bring Rama back from exile. A powerful display of brotherly devotion in the Ramayana.
Bharata, upon hearing about his father's demise and his brothers' exile, spoke these words:
"What use is this kingdom to me now, when I am bereft of my father and my brother who was like a father to me? I am grieving and fallen into misfortune.
You have added sorrow upon my sorrow. You have caused the death of the king and reduced Rama to an ascetic.
You have come here for the destruction of this family, like a fatal night. My father did not realize what he had embraced.
O woman of sinful thoughts (pāpadarśini), you have brought about the death of my father. O disgrace to our race (kulapāṃsani), you have deprived this family of its happiness.
My father, King Dasharatha, renowned for his adherence to truth, has departed from this world, tormented by intense grief after coming under your influence.
Why was my righteous father, the great king, destroyed? For what reason has Rama been exiled to the forest?
Kausalya and Sumitra, tormented by grief due to separation from their sons, will find it difficult to survive under you, O my mother."
"Does not the noble and righteous (dharmātmā) Rama, well aware of his duties towards elders, conduct himself towards you as he would towards his own mother?
In the same way, my eldest mother Kausalya, adhering to righteousness, has always conducted herself towards you as if you were her sister.
O perverse one (pāpe), how do you not feel remorse for sending Kausalya's son, so pure in mind, to dwell in the forest, wearing garments made of bark?
What possible reason do you see for exiling the glorious, valiant, self-controlled (kṛtātmānam) Rama, who never contemplated evil, clad in bark clothes?
Being avaricious, you are, I think, unaware of my devotion to Rama. This great calamity has been brought about by you for the sake of the kingdom.
Without Rama and Lakshmana, those tigers among men, by what mighty power am I competent to protect this kingdom?
The mighty and righteous great king used to rely upon the powerful Rama, just as Mount Meru relies on its surrounding forest.
How can I, like a young untrained bullock, bear this burden that is fit for a great bull?
Even if I were to gain strength by employing expedients (yogair) or by the power of intellect, I will not allow you, covetous of your son, to fulfill your ambition.
If Rama had not always treated you just like his mother, I would not have the slightest disinclination (vikāṅkṣā) to renounce you, a lady of sinful disposition, with a steady heart."
"O sinful woman (pāpadarśini), you who have fallen from virtuous conduct (sādhucāritraviabhraṣṭe), how did this thought, reproachable to our ancestors, originate in you?
In this race of our ancestors, the eldest is indeed installed in the kingdom, and the rest of the brothers conduct themselves towards him.
O cruel lady (nṛśaṃse), I suppose you neither look to the royal tradition nor are you aware of the everlasting consequences of following the royal tradition.
According to the established law of royalty, the eldest son is invariably crowned in the kingdom. This is true of all kings. This is a special tradition of the kings of the Ikshvaku race.
Those Ikshvaku kings, with righteousness as their sole protection (dharmaika rakṣāṇām), follow the ancestral traditions befitting the noble race. This tradition has been overturned by your admission into the family.
Even the kings in your ancestral family were highly distinguished men. How did this condemnable delusion originate in your mind?
O woman of sinful convictions (pāpaniścaye), I on my part will not fulfill your cherished desire. You have started a distressing deed to bring an end to my existence.
As for me, now itself, to cause you great discomfort, I shall bring back my faultless brother, the beloved of his people, from the forest.
With the effulgent Rama brought back, I shall serve him like a servant (dāsabhūto) with a steadfast mind.
Having spoken in this manner, afflicting her with these unpleasant words, the high-souled Bharata, overwhelmed with grief, cried out loudly once again like a lion in a mountain cave.
This concludes the Seventy Third chapter (sarga) of Ayodhyakanda, the second book of the Ramayana, the great epic composed by the sage Valmiki.