The Four Brothers Complete the Circle of Reunion
Uttara Kanda, Doha 5ख
Doha 5ख · Movement 3 of 3
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After holding Bharata, Rama turns joyfully to Shatrughna and presses the youngest brother to his heart. The homecoming widens beyond the one embrace that carried fourteen years of waiting.
Then Lakshmana and Bharata meet. One brother followed Rama through forest, war, and sleepless service. The other remained behind beside Rama's sandals, ruling through austerity and counting the days.
Their love needs no long speech in the Doha. Supreme affection fills the space between the two forms of service, each complete and neither competing. Shatrughna has returned to Rama's embrace, Lakshmana to Bharata's, and the four sons of Dasharatha stand together again upon Ayodhya's soil. The family circle broken by exile closes through bodies that have grown thin, scarred, and transformed while remaining bound by one love.
Forest service and waiting service meet without comparison as the four brothers become one household again.
Read the passage from the Manas
पुनि प्रभु हरषि सत्रुहन भेंटे हृदयँ लगाइ। लछिमन भरत मिले तब परम प्रेम दोउ भाइ।।5।।
Then the Lord, filled with joy, embraced Shatrughna, pressing him to His heart. Lakshmana and Bharat met at last, those two brothers, with love beyond all measure.