Ram's Exile Makes Bharata Forget Even Death
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 160
Doha 160 · Movement 2 of 2
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Bharata hears that Ram has gone into the forest. The blow is so complete that even the freshly revealed death of Dasharatha falls from the foreground of his mind.
He sees himself as the cause. The throne was demanded in his name, and absence has made him the apparent center around which every calamity turned.
Words cease. Bharata stands stunned, carrying guilt before any accusation has been spoken against him. Love interprets benefit gained through Ram's suffering as contamination, and the prince cannot yet distinguish another person's scheme from his own place within its result.
At the words Ram went to the forest, Bharata falls silent beneath a guilt his heart accepts before reason can examine it.
Read the passage from the Manas
भरतहि बिसरेउ पितु मरन सुनत राम बन गौनु। हेतु अपनपउ जानि जियँ थकित रहे धरि मौनु।।160।।
When Bharat heard that Rama had departed for the forest, he forgot even his father's death. Recognizing himself as the cause, he stood stunned and fell silent.