Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 72

Meaning

Not finding his father in the latter’s apartments in the palace, Bharata for his part then proceeded to see his mother in her apartments. (1)

Meaning

Rejoiced to see her aforesaid son, who had long been absent from home, returned, Kaikeyī for her part sprang on her feet at once, quitting her seat of gold. (2)

Meaning

Immediately on entering his mother’s apartments and observing them completely shorn of splendour, the celebrated Bharata, whose mind was given to piety, clasped his mother’s lovable feet. (3)

Meaning

Duly smelling his head as a token of motherly affection and embracing the illustrious Bharata and seating him on her lap, she coolly proceeded to question him as follows : (4)

Meaning

“How many nights have elapsed today since you departed from your maternal grandfather’s abode and was not fatigue experienced by you in the course of the long and tedious journey while you rode fast in your chariot? (5)

Meaning

“Is your maternal grandfather as well as your maternal uncle, Yudhājit, enjoying perfect health? And has everything been well with you ever since you left home, my son? You should tell me everything.” (6)

Meaning

Questioned thus in endearing terms by Kaikeyī, the lotus-eyed Prince Bharata, for his part, related to his mother everything concerning himself. (7)

Meaning

He said “Today has elapsed the seventh night since I departed from the abode of my maternal grandfather. My maternal grandfather as well as my maternal uncle, Yudhājit, are enjoying good health. (8)

Meaning

“The animals carrying the wealth (gold) and jewels that King Aśwapati (a tormentor of his enemies) gave to me, got fatigued on the way; hence I came away first. (9)

Meaning

“Being urged by the messengers, carrying the royal message, to hurry up, I came away in advance. Be pleased, O mother, to tell me now what I intend to ask. (10)

Meaning

“This couch of yours, fit for reposing on and plated with gold as it is, is unoccupied by the king, who used to grace it every now and then. These attendants of Daśaratha (a scion of Ikṣwāku) do not appear much delighted to me either. (11)

Meaning

“The king used mostly to be present here in your apartments. Though I have come here longing to see him, I do not see him today. (12)

Meaning

“Nay, I shall clasp the feet of my father: pray, tell me, even as I ask you, where he may be. Is he in the apartments of Kausalyā, the seniormost of my mothers?” (13)

Meaning

Infatuated by greed of sovereignty, Kaikeyī, who knew everything in detail, related to Bharata, who knew nothing about it, the whole event, which was so terrible and unpleasant, as though it were agreeable to hear : (14)

Meaning

“The high-souled and glorious king, your father, who was given to the performance of sacrifices and was the haven of the virtuous, has met the same fate as is the destined end of all created beings.” (15)

Meaning

Hearing the aforesaid reply from the lips of Kaikeyī, the guileless Bharata, who came of a pious family, fell to the ground all at once, hard smitten with grief caused by the death of his father. (16)

Meaning

Uttering in piteous tones the plaintive words “Alas, I am ruined !” and striking his arms against the floor, the heroic Bharata, who possessed long arms, fell prostrate. (17)

Meaning

Overwhelmed with grief and distressed over the death of his father, Bharata, who was endowed with great glory, then lamented in the following words, his mind being confused and agitated through grief : (18)

Meaning

“This couch of my father looked most charming before like a clear sky adorned with the moon on an autumnal night. (19)

Meaning

“Devoid of that sagacious king, however, the same couch does not shine brightly today any more than a moonless sky or a sea whose water has been dried up by the fire of universal dissolution.” (20)

Meaning

Shedding tears with a sound expressive of anguish from his throat, and covering his charming face with a cloth, Bharata, the foremost of victorious men, who felt greatly troubled in his own mind, continued to wail. (21)

Meaning

Perceiving her aforesaid son, shining brightly like a god—who closely resembled the young of an elephant and vied with the moon and the sun in splendour and felt stricken with grief, fallen in a wretched plight on the ground like a bough of a sal severed with an axe in a forest—and lifting him, the mother Kaikeyī spoke to him as follows : (22-23)

Meaning

“Get up, O king ! Rise, O highly illustrious one ! Wherefore are you lying down here on the ground? Virtuous souls like you, honoured in an assembly of men, do not grieve. (24)

Meaning

“Your mind, O prince richly endowed with intelligence—which is ever devoted to charity and sacrificial performances and which pursues right conduct—follows the injunctions of the Vedas, and is prone to austerities—is steady as the radiance of the sun is fixed in the orb of the sun.” (25)

Meaning

Weeping for a long time and rolling on the floor, Bharata, who was filled with many-sided grief, replied to his mother as follows : (26)

Meaning

“Having arrived at the conclusion that the king will most probably install Śrī Rāma as Prince Regent or perform a sacrifice, I gladly undertook the journey to Ayodhyā. (27)

Meaning

“Indeed that calculation of mine has come to be incorrect, and my mind is torn with anguish in that I do not behold my father, who was ever intent on doing kind acts to me and devoted to my good. (28)

Meaning

“Of what disease did the king die before I arrived, O mother? How fortunate are Śrī Rāma and all others, by whom father was cremated with their own hands ! (29)

Meaning

“Surely the illustrious Emperor does not know me to have come home. Otherwise, pressing me down, father would have quickly smelt my head as a token of affection. (30)

Meaning

“Where is that hand, agreeable to the touch, of my father—who did great things without much exertion—that would wipe me again and again when he found me soiled with dust. (31)

Meaning

“Pray, announce me soon to Śrī Rāma, who is unwearied in action, nay, who is my elder brother, father in the absence of the Emperor and friend, all in one, and whose beloved servant I am. (32)

Meaning

“To a worthy man knowing what is right, an elder brother is a virtual father. I shall, clasp his feet as a mark of respect since he is my support now. (33)

Meaning

“What did the king, my father, of firm resolve and unfailing prowess—who knew what is right, had a virtuous disposition and was highly fortunate—say to my elder brother at the last moment? (34)

Meaning

“I wish to hear his last kind message for me.” Questioned thus, Kaikeyī replied as follows, strictly in consonance with facts : (35)

Meaning

“That high-souled monarch, the foremost among the wise, departed for the other world crying ‘O Rāma, O Sītā, O Lakṣmaṇa !’ (36)

Meaning

“Bound by the laws of Time (according to which a living being meets his end at the appointed time), like a huge elephant bound with ropes, your father uttered the following parting words : (37)

Meaning

‘Only those men who are able to behold Rāma returned with Sītā, as also the mighty-armed Lakṣmaṇa come back to Ayodhyā, will have their object accomplished.’ (38)

Meaning

Hearing the aforesaid report, the prince grew melancholy at that other unpleasant tidings and, assuming a dejected look, further questioned his mother as follows : (39)

Meaning

“Where is Śrī Rāma, whose mind is given to virtue and who enhances the joy of Kausalyā, now, conjoined with brother Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā?” (40)

Meaning

Questioned as aforesaid, his mother began duly to relate as follows the unpleasant event, simultaneously with the news of his father’s demise in the tone of breaking a welcome news : (41)

Meaning

“Actually, clad in the bark of trees, my son, and followed by Lakṣmaṇa, the aforesaid prince proceeded to the great forest of Daṇḍaka with Sītā, a princess of the Videha territory.” (42)

Meaning

Filled with apprehension to hear the tidings because of his misgivings about the character of his elder brother, Śrī Rāma, and remembering as he did the greatness of his royal house, Bharata commenced interrogating her as follows : (43)

Meaning

“I hope no property of a Brāhmaṇa was wantonly seized by Śrī Rāma. I am sure, no sinless man, whether wealthy or destitute, was killed by him. (44)

Meaning

“Nor did the prince long for another’s wife, I am sure. If not, wherefore was my celebrated brother sent into exile to the Daṇḍaka forest?” (45)

Meaning

Prompted by her feminine (frivolous) nature, which was too well-known, Bharata’s capricious mother forthwith began to recount her notorious doing precisely as matters stood. (46)

Meaning

Questioned as aforesaid by the high-souled Bharata, Kaikeyī, for her part, who vainly accounted her wise, merrily replied as follows : (47)

Meaning

“No property whatsoever of a Brāhmaṇa or anyone else was wantonly seized by Rāma, nor was any innocent man, wealthy or destitute, killed by him. Nor did the celebrated Rāma look on another’s wife even with sinless eyes. (48)

Meaning

“The moment I heard of Rāma’s installation as Prince Regent on the throne of Ayodhyā, my son, your father was in fact asked by me for the sovereignty of Ayodhyā in your favour and the banishment of Rāma. (49)

Meaning

“Following his own truthful nature, your father thereupon did as he was asked by me. Accompanied by Lakṣmaṇa, Rāma was accordingly sent into exile alongwith Sītā. (50)

Meaning

“Missing his beloved son, Rāma, and stricken with grief over his separation from that son, the highly illustrious Emperor met his end. (51)

Meaning

“Let the throne of Ayodhyā be accepted by you now, O knower of what is right ! Indeed, all this has been manipulated by me in this wise for your sake. (52)

Meaning

“Do not yield to grief nor to remorse, my dear son, but have recourse to firmness. Indeed, the existence of the city of Ayodhyā as well as this kingdom, which is free from trouble, is dependent on you. (53)

Meaning

“Therefore, speedily performing with due ceremony the funeral rites with respect to the king (your deceased father) with the help of the foremost of Brāhmaṇas well-versed in the scriptural ordinance, get yourself installed, my son, as the ruler of the entire globe, undepressed in spirits.” (54)