Guha Reveals What Ram Said through the Night
Ayodhya Kanda, Chhand 8
Doha 201 · Movement 2 of 3
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Guha names the force behind the calamity as adverse destiny, harsh enough to bewilder Kaikeyi's mind. Bharata need not carry its entire darkness as a personal crime.
Then Guha opens the memory of the forest night. Again and again Ram spoke of Bharata with honor. While Bharata now kneels in guilt at the place of exile, the exiled Lord had filled that same darkness with praise for him.
Tulsi seals the consolation with an oath: no one loves Ram more than Bharata. The ending will be auspicious, though the road toward it is still hidden. Courage must therefore enter the heart before events change. Guha gives Bharata not a prediction of ease but a trustworthy image of how he already lives within Ram's remembrance.
The night Bharata imagines as proof of his guilt was the very night Ram repeatedly spoke his praise.
Read the passage from the Manas
बिधि बाम की करनी कठिन जेंहिं मातु कीन्ही बावरी। तेहि राति पुनि पुनि करहिं प्रभु सादर सरहना रावरी।। तुलसी न तुम्ह सो राम प्रीतमु कहतु हौं सौहें किएँ। परिनाम मंगल जानि अपने आनिए धीरजु हिएँ।।
How harsh the working of adverse fate, which drove the mother to madness. Yet that very night, again and again, the Lord reverently sang your praises. Tulsidas says: no one loves Rama more than you. I speak this truth upon my solemn oath. Knowing that the outcome shall be auspicious, bring patience and courage into your heart.