Lakshmana First Names Bharata's Pure Heart
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 227
Doha 227 · Movement 2 of 2
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Before suspicion speaks, Lakshmana states what he knows of Bharata. He is a true friend, utterly simple and pure within, a treasury of character and affection.
Bharata's love and trust extend toward all. He regards others with the same inward care by which a person naturally regards himself.
This testimony makes the fear that follows more tragic and more human. Lakshmana does not begin from ignorance of Bharata's goodness. He begins from goodness remembered, then struggles to reconcile it with an army in the forest. The brief pause preserves the beloved brother beneath the imagined threat, even as protective anxiety prepares to interpret appearances against him.
At the threshold of anger, Lakshmana still beholds Bharata as pure-hearted, loving others as his own self.
Read the passage from the Manas
नाथ सुह्रद सुठि सरल चित सील सनेह निधान।। सब पर प्रीति प्रतीति जियँ जानिअ आपु समान।।227।।
O Lord, Bharata is a true friend, utterly pure of heart, a treasury of virtue and love. His affection and trust toward all should be understood as equal to what he holds for himself.