What Heart Can Bear Separation from Such a Son
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 262
Doha 262 · Movement 2 of 2
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Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana move through the forest as the beloved center of every compassionate gaze. To turn against them is to turn against tenderness itself.
Bharata's lament gathers the unbearable contradiction of his life. He belongs to the house from which their exile arose, yet his entire being longs only for their welfare. The nearness of blood cannot soften the pain of what has happened through that same household.
The verse leaves a question suspended over the assembly: who could endure the grief of separation from such a son? No argument answers it. Dasharatha's death, the mothers' anguish, and Bharata's living torment become the answer written across every face before Rama.
The assembly cannot answer Bharata's question, for the cost of separation from Rama is already visible in every grieving heart.
Read the passage from the Manas
तेइ रघुनंदनु लखनु सिय अनहित लागे जाहि। तासु तनय तजि दुसह दुख दैउ सहावइ काहि।।262।।
Those who harbor ill will toward Raghunandan, Lakshman, and Siya, who can bear the unbearable grief of being parted from such a son?