After the Sacred Bath, Bharata Leads Everyone to Camp
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 197
Doha 197 · Movement 2 of 2
Keep this contemplation
Preserve, print, or share
Bharata completes his bath in the sacred river, carrying his single prayer for love into the water and emerging under his guru's guidance.
He does not move onward by private impulse. Permission and instruction preserve the order of the pilgrimage even while longing urges every heart toward Ram.
Bharata also waits until he knows that all the mothers have bathed. Only then does he lead the company toward the prepared encampment. The brief passage gathers three forms of attention into one movement: reverence for Ganga, obedience to the guru, and care for the mothers. Devotion advances without leaving sacred order or human tenderness behind upon the shore.
Bharata leaves Ganga only with his guru's guidance and only after every mother has completed her sacred bath.
Read the passage from the Manas
एहि बिधि मज्जनु भरतु करि गुर अनुसासन पाइ। मातु नहानीं जानि सब डेरा चले लवाइ।।197।।
Having bathed in this manner, Bharat received his guru's guidance. Knowing that all the mothers had finished their ablutions, he led the party onward to make camp.