Bharat's Vigil on the Shore
Bala Kanda, Doha 41
Doha 41 · Movement 2 of 2
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Upon the shore, Bharat's life burns with the steadiness of japa and sacrificial fire. His devotion calms calamities too numerous to name, not through conquest but through fidelity that refuses comfort while Ram remains in the forest.
Nearby drift the impurities of the age: the scum of sin, herons of false holiness, and crows eager to feed upon the faults of others. Their noise cannot master the lake. Bharat's character keeps the sacred bank bright, and the very telling of his love becomes a rite of purification.
Where fault finding circles overhead, his remembrance remains lowered at Ram's sandals.
The crows scatter, and Bharat's quiet fire continues beside the water.
Read the passage from the Manas
समन अमित उतपात सब भरतचरित जपजाग। कलि अघ खल अवगुन कथन ते जलमल बग काग।।41।।
Bharat's story, which calms all manner of limitless calamities, is the japa and yajna performed on the banks. The sins of Kali Yuga, the wickedness of the corrupt, and idle talk of faults are the water-scum, herons, and crows: impurities near the lake that its holiness drives away.