Bharata Mistakes the Mountain Bearer for a Demon and Draws His Bow
Lanka Kanda, Doha 58
Doha 58 · Movement 2 of 2
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Above Ayodhya, Bharata sees an enormous form moving through the night with a mountain held aloft. Distance and darkness conceal the servant's face, and the vigilant prince takes the approaching figure for a demon.
He fits an arrow without an iron head and draws the bowstring back to his ear. The choice carries enough force to stop the unknown traveler without the cutting point of a killing shaft.
The arrow leaves Bharata and rises toward Hanuman. Two perfect servants of Rama are about to meet without recognizing one another, each acting from devotion to the same Lord. One races to preserve Lakshmana before dawn. The other guards Rama's land in Rama's absence. Love approaches love through the form of a weapon because the night has not yet revealed their shared name.
Bharata draws against a shadow above Ayodhya, unaware that Rama's urgent service is flying inside it.
Read the passage from the Manas
देखा भरत बिसाल अति निसिचर मन अनुमानि। बिनु फर सायक मारेउ चाप श्रवन लगि तानि।।58।।
Seeing the enormous figure, Bharata understood in his mind and shot an arrow without arrowhead, drawing his bow to his ear.