Bharata Performs Dasharatha's Funeral Rites
Ayodhyakanda - Sarga 77
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Ayodhyakanda - Sarga 77
Bharata's anguish unfolds as he performs funeral rites for King Dasharatha. Alongside Satrughna, he grapples with grief, duty, and the absence of Rama in this poignant Ramayana passage.
After the ten-day mourning period, Bharata, son of the king, purified himself. On the twelfth day, he arranged for the shraddha rites (funeral ceremonies) to be performed. During these ceremonies, Bharata generously bestowed upon the brahmins:
Precious stones and wealth
Abundant quantities of rice
Highly valuable garments
Various gems
Herds of white goats
Hundreds of cows
Male and female servants
Spacious houses and carriages
On the dawn of the thirteenth day, the mighty-armed Bharata visited the cemetery for the final purification ceremony. Approaching his father's funeral pyre, he lamented:
"O dear father, you entrusted me to my brother Rama, but now he has been sent to the forest, and I am left alone in this emptiness. Where have you gone, my king, my father, abandoning mother Kausalya? She is now without protection, her only support - her son Rama - sent away to the forest."
Bharata, seeing the circular area where his father's body was consumed by fire, now reddish-brown with ashes and burnt bones, cried out and collapsed in sorrow. He fell to the ground like Indra's flag staff when it falls while being raised.
Satrughna, witnessing Bharata's distress, also fell unconscious, remembering their father. Both brothers, mentally unsteady with profound sorrow, lamented like madmen, constantly recalling their father's virtues.
Bharata described their situation as a terrible sea of sorrow:
Its source: Manthara
Its crocodile: Kaikeyi
Its essence: The irrevocable boons
In his lament, Bharata questioned:
"Father, where have you gone, leaving behind your tender, young Bharata whom you always fondled? Who will now offer us choices of delicious food, drinks, garments, and ornaments as you did?"
"With my father ascended to heaven and Rama gone to the forest, how can I find the strength to live? I shall enter the blazing fire. I will not return to empty Ayodhya, once ruled by the Ikshvakus. Instead, I shall enter the grove of asceticism."
Hearing the brothers' lamentations, all the attendants felt deeply afflicted. Bharata and Satrughna lay writhing on the ground like two bulls with broken horns.
Vasistha, the family priest, raised Bharata and spoke:
"O lord, this is the thirteenth day since your father's passing. The remnants still lie on the pyre. Why this delay? There are three dualities (hunger and thirst, pain and pleasure, birth and death) that apply to all living beings without exception and cannot be avoided. It does not befit you to act this way."
Similarly, Sumantra consoled Satrughna and educated him about the inevitability of birth and death.
The princes rose, wiping away their tears as the counselors urged them to complete the remaining funeral rites.
This concludes the Seventy Seventh chapter (sarga) of Ayodhyakanda, the second book of the Ramayana, the great epic composed by the sage Valmiki.