July 18 - Sargas 101 and 102 of Ayodhya Kanda. (I am following here the sequence and shlokas per Gita Press).
Two short chapters of dialogue between Bharata and Sri Rama.
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यन्निमित्तमिमं देशं कृष्णाजिनजटाधरः. ।
हित्वा राज्यं प्रविष्टस्त्वं तत् सर्वं वक्तुमर्हसि ॥
"Dear Bharata, you need to explain to me why you have left the responsibilities of the kingdom and come here, entering this forest, sporting matted locks and wearing deer skins and bark garments."
आर्य तातः परित्यज्य कृत्वा कर्म सुदुष्करम् ।
गतः स्वर्गं महाबाहुः पुत्रशोकाभिपीडितः ॥
स्त्रिया नियुक्तः कैकेय्या मम मात्रा परंतप ।
चकार सा महत्पापमिदमात्मयशोहरम् ॥
" Dear brother Rama, after sending you into exile, father could not bear the grief of separation from you and passed away.
" He was compelled into this heinous act by my mother Kaikeyi. She thus perpetrated this great sin and lost all her glory and reputation."
एभिश्च सचिवैः सार्धं शिरसा याचितो मया ।
भ्रातुः शिष्यस्य दासस्य प्रसादं कर्तुमर्हसि ॥
"Joined by all these ministers, I beseech you, , with bowed head, to accept the kingdom and return. You should most kindly and graciously accede to this fervent appeal by me - your brother, disciple and servant!"
Sri Rama replies, again with a surprising thought:
कामकारो महाप्राज्ञ गरूणां सर्वदानघ ।
उपपन्नेषु दारेषु पुत्रेषु च विधीयते ॥
"Dear Bharata, you are full of wisdom and blemishless. You should know that always, the preceptors and wise men have, always, permitted freedom of choice and action by one in respect of one's own wives and children. So our father was fully within his right to send me into exile and confer the kingdom on you."
यावत् पितरि धर्मज्ञ गोरवं लोकसत्कृते ।
तावद् धर्मकृतां श्रेष्ठ जनन्यायपि गोरवम् ॥
" Dear Bharata, you know Dharma. Whatever reverence one shows towards one's father should be extended equally to one's mother, too. You know this, O noble one!"
Sri Rama makes it clear that it is impossible for him to break the order from his father and mother and return from the forest to accept kingship. As father directed, Bharata shall rule for fourteen years. Rama will complete his exile and return, and accept whatever share of kingdom Bharata deems fit to bestow on him at that time.
Bharata makes another attempt:
शाश्वतोऽयं सदा धर्मः स्थितोऽस्मासु नरर्षभ ।
ज्येष्ठे पुत्रे स्थिते राजा न कनीयान् भवेन्नृपः ॥
"Oh dear brother! O tiger among men, you know fully well the eternal and unbreakable principle of Dharma accepted and established amongst all of us. When the eldest son is alive and fit to rule, the younger son shall never be made king."
Bharata then says that Dasharatha has sadly died and gone to the next world. Bharata and Shatrughna have performed his last rites. Sri Rama and Lakshmana should now offer their oblations to the departed Dasharatha. His soul will be immeasurably happy to receive it from Sri Rama, his dearest son.
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॥ श्रीरामजयम् ॥
