In the previous episode, we witnessed the arrival of Bharata at Chitrakoota and as he arrives, he straightaway fell on the feet of Lord Rama with all his tears of agony and sorrow! Rama, as magnanimous as ever, lifts Bharata, makes him sit on his lap and comforts him. Meanwhile we also saw that Rama uses this opportunity to teach Lakshmana a lesson! This harsh lesson for Lakshmana is also an important life lesson for all of us – We should behave carefully with Bhagawan’s ardent devotees, else we are going to make ourselves the victims of Bhagawan’s anger! Hence, we should mind our words and language when we interact with Bhaktas and Bhaagawathaas!
Once Bharata is comforted, Rama asks him a slew of questions: “My dearest Bharata! How are you doing? How did your coronation ceremony go? How is Ayodhya? How are the people of Ayodhya? Are you taking care of them properly as a king? Are you collecting all the taxes properly and managing all the accounts correctly?” – For all these questions, Bharata never lifted his head up to answer Rama! It is to be noted here that at this stage Rama doesn’t know that Bharata hasn’t become the king of Ayodhya yet! He just assumes that Bharata is the king and he asks all these above questions. From these questions of Rama to Bharata, we can also understand the important roles and duties of an effective administrator!
With Bharata not answering any of the above questions, (He needn’t answer any of the above questions, because he hasn’t become the king yet – Rather, he doesn’t intend to!) now Rama asks the all-important question – “Oh Bharata! Are you meticulously following the footsteps laid by our great ancestors of the Ikshvaaku Dynasty?” Upon hearing this question, Bharata slowly lifts up his head and looks at Rama and replies, “Oh Rama! Of all the questions that you asked till now, I’ll just answer the last question that you asked! What did you ask just now? Are you following the footsteps laid by our great ancestors of Ikshvaaku Dynasty? Now I shall reply to this question – You’ve tried to act against the footsteps laid by our ancestors and I’ve come here to correct you to the right path!”
Rama didn’t understand what Bharata was trying to say. Now Bharata says, “Oh Rama! The footsteps laid by our ancestors is that, the eldest son of the king should be the successor! Now you’ve disobeyed this important rule and I’ve come here to correct you! Here’s the kingdom of Ayodhya! You’ve to rule Ayodhya and not me! Please come back!”
Rama was so impressed with Bharata’s “Sharanaagathi Dharma” (Complete surrender to the Lord), and at the same time, his eyes fell on the three mothers who were dressed like widows! Rama was concerned and asks Bharata about King Dasharata’s health condition. Upon which, Bharata broke the ice and says, “Oh Rama! Our dear father has passed away!” Hearing this, Rama is totally dejected and shocked beyond words! He is almost going to faint! All the four brothers hug each other and cry aloud, as the three mothers and Sage Vasishtaachaarya look on with grief!
The moment Rama was about to loose himself, Sita runs towards Rama and comforts him! She gives him the courage and says, “Oh my dear husband! You are the eldest son of all and if you are going to get dejected like this, how will you console the other three brothers of yours? Please regain your mental strength! I know it is a tough moment, but my dear, I request you to control your emotions!” Rama acknowledges Sita’s words and tries to console his brothers who were weeping bitterly!
Now Rama, accompanied by the others, walks towards the banks of river Mandaahini, which is not very far from that place. Rama, being the eldest son has to do the “Pinda-Pradhaanam” (A kind of Divine Offering done to his late father). There was a tree called “Ingudha”. Rama plucks the fruits from this tree and offers them to the river Mandaahini as the divine offering to his late father!
Normally we do the “Pinda-Pradhaanam” with rice. But since Rama was in the forest, there was no source of getting rice. Moreover, he had also made a promise to Kaikeyi that he would not consume any food item that contains rice in it and that he would consume only food that is taken by saints and tapasvis’ in the forest! Thus, while giving just these fruits of the “Ingudha” tree, Kaushalya couldn’t control her tears! She laments aloud by saying, “Ohh! What a great King, Dasharata was! And look at the situation right now! He doesn’t even deserve to get even a proper divine offering even after his death! What sin did Dasharata commit to be this unfortunate? Was giving Rama to this world his greatest sin?” Thus, looking at this unfortunate situation, the entire set of people gathered there were crying aloud!
After all this was over, Bharata repeats his request to Rama and asks him to come back to Ayodhya and take over the kingdom! Did Rama accept Bharata’s request? What was Rama’s reply? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out!
The Indian Dharma 