When Bharat arrived at Chitrakoot with a huge army, it was natural for Lakshman to misjudge his intentions. The fiery warrior was all set to eliminate the perceived threat to Ram. But Ram could not go wrong about his saintly brother, Bharat. In a calm voice he said, “Lakshman, when a mighty warrior and a great enthusiast, Bharat, has himself arrived here, then to what purpose are the bow and shield-sword at this time?” (Balmiki Ramayan, Ayodhya Kand, Canto 57(ii)). The four brothers – Ram, Bharat, Lakshman and Shatrughan – had an emotionally charged meeting and all the doubts and ill feelings were washed away in their tears of a joyful reunion. Sant Tulsidas extols the ecstasy of the Ram-Bharat reunion –
Keh-hu supem pragat ko kar-ee/Kehi chhaya kabi mati anusar-ee//
Kabihi arath aakhar balu sancha/Anuhari tal gatihi natu nacha//
Say, who can describe that exalted love? Whose shadow the poet should follow? A poet has power only on the word and the meaning. A dancer dances according to motion of the rhythm.
Ramcharitmanas, Ayodhya Kand, 240(ii)
The mystery had been solved. Bharat had come with the army and all that regal paraphernalia looking for Ram with two objectives: one was to lay at his feet what was his as their father’s successor and the other was to beseech him to return to Ayodhya to take charge of the flourishing Koshala kingdom which had become headless on account of Raja Dashrath’s death. He had accomplished the first objective at a great risk to his credibility and even his life itself. It was the second, and the main objective for which he had yet to exert himself. The tussle of great wills that followed is perhaps unique in the world. We have heard and read about princes fighting for throne, but Ramayana tells us of the contest between Ram and Bharat to refuse the proffered throne. Bharat wished his older brother to ascend the throne; while Ram willed that he would abide only by the word of his departed father.
Balmiki says (Balmiki Ramayan, Ayodhya Kand, Cantos 101,106) that Bharat had adopted the garb of a hermit when he came to Chitrakoot – tree-bark garments, the skin of a black deer and matted hair. When Ram asked him the reason, he told him of their father’s demise because of Kaikeyi’s stratagem and begged him – as his brother, pupil and slave – to ascend the throne. Ram was moved to tears on hearing of their father’s loss. As to Bharat’s request for returning to Ayodhya and occupying the throne, he told his brother firmly of his inability to break the vow which the departed Raja had taken to send him away on a 14-year banishment. Bharat argued that their father had taken a faulty decision at the instance of Kaikeyi, and as a capable son, it behoved Ram to correct that blunder. Ram was a Kshatriya prince, Bharat said. The Kshatriyas were expected to nurture their subjects, and not roam about in forests in dreadlocks. Bharat also took the plea of his youth and inexperience to take the huge responsibilities of running a state.
Ram remained unmoved by Bharat’s arguments. He told him of their father’s pre-wedding deal with Kaikeyi’s father that his first-born son with Kaikeyi would inherit his – Raja Dashrath’s – throne. Being a son, he had to redeem his father’s promise. Ram then asked Bharat to return to Ayodhya with Shatrughan and assume the role of a raja (ibid, Canto 107).
Jabali, a learned Brahmin who spoke like an atheist, was over hearing the talk between Ram and Bharat. He told Ram to his face that he talked like a rustic. A man is born alone and dies alone. Raja Dashrath was nothing to Ram, nor was Ram anything to Dashrath. One’s father is just the cause of one’s birth…The raja had gone away where he had to go. That was the law of nature. Ram should not willingly make his own life difficult (ibid, Canto 108)
Ram patiently heard out Jabali and then countered him politely. He told him that what he said was, in fact,a-dharm – deviation from duty. “If I were to forego the activities prescribed by the Vedas and engage myself in unsuitable tasks, which wise man would give me the respect due to an exalted person?” asked Ram. If he were to follow Jabali’s advice, Ram added, he would be setting a bad example to his subjects. “I am devoted to truth and having taken a vow in the name of truth; I am determined to fulfil my father’s vow…” Ram said with conviction.
But Jabali was not the one to be easily convinced. He advanced further arguments, testing Ram’s patience. “Your thinking is odd,” Ram said to him coldly, “You have adopted a path which goes against the Vedas. You are an appalling atheist, distracted from the dharma path. You were made a priest by my father in spite of your hypocritical intellect spreading inappropriate ideas. I denounce that action of his.” Deflated by Ram’s stern rebuke, Jabali tendered to him an apology. (ibid, Canto 109).
Seeing that Ram was in a rare mood of anger, Muni Vashisht tried to pacify him. He said that Jabali had spoken like an atheist only with the intention of persuading him to return to Ayodhya. The Raj-guru then told Ram the story of the origin of the world (see RAM’S FOREBEARS: Genesis according to Maharishi Balmiki, DE, 11 August, 2024), recounting to him also the unbroken tradition of the Ayodhya throne being passed on to the eldest male heir all through the thirty-nine generations of the Raghus preceding him. Ram, as Raja Dashrath’s eldest son, must agree to go back to Ayodhya to uphold the tradition, Muni Vashisht held. To put a seal of authority on his advice, Guru Vashisht said that a man had three gurus in his life: his guru, his father and his mother. Ram should obey not only him as he was the guru both to his late father and himself, but also carry out the wishes of his elderly mother, Rani Kashshalya, who was imploring him to return to Ayodhya.
Ram listened to Guru Vashisht attentively and said, “What command was given me by my father, who brought me to this world, that shall not be belied.” He then asked Bharat not to insist on his return and go back to Ayodhya. Bharat went on a dharna in protest. Ram resolved the contentious issue once for all. “Kaikeyi sought a boon of the raja…,” he pronounced decisively,”hence, Bharat, oblige me now to liberate Maharaja Dashrath of his liability of a falsehood by bringing his boon to fruition.” (ibid, Canto 111(xxxii)).
Bharat agreed at last to obey Ram, but before leaving for Ayodhya, he would take not only a token of his elder brother’s presence with him, but also something much more significant than that.
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