Part 36

Issuing from the palace, the blazing Bharata endowed with prowess went in an easterly direction, and seeing before him the river called Sudama, crossed it. Then the auspicious descendant of Ikshwaku crossed the broad Hradini coursing westwards, as also the river Satadru. Then crossing a river at Eladhana,[153] and coming to Aparaparvata,[154] he crossed the Sila[155] and the Akurvati, and arrived at Agneya[156] and Salyakarshanam. And having purified himself and seen Silavaha,[157] that one of truthful purposes passed the Mahacailas,[158] and entered the forest of Chaitraratha. Then coming upon the confluence of the Ganga. and the Saraswati, Bharata entered the forest of Varunda lyingto the north[159] of Viramatsya. Next crossing the rapid river Kulinga and the Hradini surrounded by hills, as Well as the Yamuna, he ordered the forces to halt. Then cooling the limbs of the fatigued horses (with water) and refreshing them, Bharata himself bathed there and drank of the water; and then resumed the march, furnished with the water. Then the gentle prince by means of an excellent car, like unto the wind-god himself, entered the mighty forest inhabited by various races of men. Seeing that the mighty river Ganga was hard to cross at Ancudhana, Bharata speedily went to the famous city of Pragvata. And having crossed the Ganga at Pragvata, he went over to the Kutikoshtika. Having with his forces crossed that river, he proceeded to Dharmavarddhana. Then proceeding by ie south of Torana, he came to Jamvuprastha. Then Dacaratha's son went to the beautiful village of Varutha. Having for a while stayed at that romantic wood, he proceeded eastwards, and presented himself at the villa of Ujjihayana, where abound trees (called) Priyaka. Coming to the Priyakas, Bharata speedily yoking the horses, set out without delay, issuing his orders to the forces. Then sojourning at Sarvatirtha and crossing the river there flowing northwards as well as others abounding in various kinds of mountainous horses, Bharata arrived at Hastiprishthaka. And at Lohitya that foremost of men crossed the Kapivati, at Ekasala, the Sthanumati, and at Vinaya, the Gomati. And Bharata arriving at a forest of Sala trees in the city of Kalinga, speedily passed it with his forces way-worn. And having passed the forest swiftly over night, he at sunrise saw Ayodhya built by king Manu. Having spent seven nights on the journey, that chief of men beheld Ayodhya before him and thus addressed the charioteer, "O charioteer, from the distance Ayodhya seemeth like a mass of black earth, albeit she boasts of sacrificial priests crowned with every virtue, Brahmanas versed in the Vedas and opulent people, and albeit she is maintained by Rajarshis. Formerly one could hear a great and mighty tumult all round Ayodhya proceeding from men and women; but I do not hear this to-day. The gardens wherefrom persons having sported in the evening used to rush out (at day break) wear a different aspect now. Forsaken by the pleasure-seekers, the gardens appear to weep. And, O charioteer, the city appears to me like a wilderness. And I do not as formerly behold the flower of the city leaving or entering her on cars or elephants or horses. Gardens which, frequented by people inebriated with the honey of love, met together for purposes of sport, looked charmingly blooming, I find as utterly void of cheerfulness, with the trees as if lamenting with tremulous leaves. Still do I not hear the inarticulate though sweet and delicious voice of beasts and birds crying in chorus.[160] Why, as before, doth not the blameless[161] and bland wind blow mixed with (the perfume of sandal and faint with _dhupa_? And why, again, have the sounds of Vinas and Mridangas developed by beating sticks, which continually flew in a never-ceasing vigorous course, ceased to-day? And I witness various evil, unsightly, and unpleasant[162] omens, and hence my mind is depressed. O charioteer, complete good fortune with my friends is hardly to be realised. Bui although no apparent cause exists for my depression of spirits, yet my heart droopeth." Then Bharata depressed and cast down and with his senses afflicted, speedily entered the city ruled by Ikshwaku. And Bharata having his vehicles fatigued, entered by the Vaijayanta[163] gate, and went on, followed by the gate-keepers, who enquired after his welfare. Then courteously telling the warders to desist, he with an agitated heart spoke unto the tired charioteer of Acwapati, "0 sinless one, why have I been brought in this haste without any (adequate) reason? My heart apprehendeth some evil; and my disposition gives way. O charioteer, I see around me all those signs which I had heard told as occurring on the occasion of the deaths of monarchs. I behold the houses of the citizens unswept and unsightly with the doors flung open,--and destitute of grace, without sacrifices and other religious ceremonies, without the incense of _dhupa_, the citizens fasting, and the people appearing with faded countenances, displaying no flags, etc. The abodes of the deities are not decorated with garlands, and their courts are unclean; and remaining vacant, they look no longer beautiful as formerly. And the images are not worshipped; and the places of sacrifice are in a like condition. And garlands are not displayed in the shops where they are sold. And traders looking anxious, with their business stopped, do not look as before. And in temples and Chaityas birds and beasts appear dispirited. And in the city I behold men and women pale and woe-begone and emaciated and anxious, with tears filling their eyes." Having said this unto the charioteer, Bharata, beholding these inauspicious sights, entered the palace of the king with a depressed heart. Beholding the city resembling the city of Indra, with her crossings and houses and roads void of people, and the doors and hinges covered with dust, Bharata was filled with greater grief. And witnessing many unpleasant things which he had never seen during the life of the monarch, that high-souled one entered the mansion of his father, bending his head, depressed in spirits, and with his mind extremely aggrieved.

[153] Some read Eladhani.--T.

[154] Some read Apharaparyata.

[155] The river, according to some, is so named because it transforms the surrounding objects to stone.--T.

[156] Some make _agneya_ an epithet to Salyakarshana, meaning, relating to the south-east.--T.

[157] According to Tirtha. Silavaha is a stream having Agneya on one side and Salyakarshana on the other.--T.

[158] Lit., mighty mountains.--T.

[159] _Uttaram, lit._ north. Some texts read _uttaran_. It would mean countries lying to the north of Viramatsya.--T.

[160] Some texts read _muhus_--momentarily.

[161] Some texts read _atula_ in place of _amala_,--_incomparable_.

[162] The commentator renders _amognani, inauspicious_. I venture to differ from him.--T.

[163] _Vaijayantena_. Another meaning is, _By the gate resembling that of Indra's palace_.--T.

SECTION LXXII.

Not having seen his father in his father's quarters,[164] Bharata went to his mother's apartment for seeing her. On seeing her son before her after his sojourn from home, Kaikeyi delighted, rose up from her golden seat. On entering his own quarter which he found deprived of grace, the virtuous Bharata took hold of his mother's auspicious feet. Then smelling the crown of his head and embracing him and taking that illustrious one on her lap, Kaikeyi addressed him, saying, "How many days hence did you leave the residence of the revered one? Hast thou felt any fatigue on the way incident to the car proceeding swiftly? And is the revered one well, and thy maternal uncle, Yudhajit? And, my son, hast thou passed thy time pleasantly during thy sojourn? It behoves thee to tell me all this." Thus asked, that son of the king, Bharata, furnished with eyes resembling lotuses told his mother that all was well. "Seven nights hence I took leave of that revered one's residence. My mother's sire is well, as also my maternal uncle, Yudhajit. My vehicles had got tired in consequence of bearing the wealth and jewels which that subduer of foes, the king, had bestowed on me. And it is for this reason that I have come in advance of them. Urged by the royal emissaries, I have come here so swiftly. But it behoves my mother to tell me what I wish to ask. This sleeping bedstead of yours adorned with gold is empty. I do not see the race of Ikshwaku in their usual good spirits. The king generally remains in this apartment of my mother. But coming here with the desire of seeing him, I do not today find him at this place. I would take the feet of my father. Do you tell me who ask you. Is he in the apartment of my eldest mother, Kaucalya?" Blinded by the lust of dominion, and looking upon that as desirable (unto Bharata) which was exceedingly disagreeable (to him), Kaikeyi replied unto him, who did not know what had transpired, "That high-souled and energetic one ever engaged in sacrifice--the refuge of the good--thy father, the king, has come by the state which pertains to all creatures." Hearing these words, Bharata of pure ways sprung from a righteous race, smit with the vehemence of sorrow on account of his father, suddenly fell down to the earth. And exclaiming in the anguish of spirit and in the excess of grief, the words, "Ah me! I am undone!" that mighty-armed one endowed with prowess, fell down, tossing about his arms. Then, overwhelmed with sorrow and distressed at the death of his father, that highly energetic one, with his senses distracted, indulged in lamentations, "This bed of my father used to look like the speckless welkin at night crowned with the moon, after the clouds have gone off. But to-day, deprived of that intelligent one, it ceases to shine, like the firmament without the moon or the sea devoid of its waters." Exclaiming with tears trickling down, that foremost of victorious ones, extremely afflicted at heart, wept, muffling his graceful countenance. Seeing that one resembling a celestial fallen to the earth, striken with sorrow, like unto a bough of the Sala that had been severed in the wood by an axe, his mother raising up his distressed son like a mad elephant or the sun or the moon, addressed him, "Arise, arise. Why dost thou lie down, O illustrious son of the king? Persons like thee having their senses under perfect control, and approved by men of culture, do not grieve. O thou endowed with understanding, like the halo of the Sun in the solar disc, thy sense, entitled to dispensing gifts and celebrating sacrifices, ever follows morals, the Sruti, and asceticism."

Having wept for a long while with his body rolling on the earth, Bharata. afflicted with manifold grief, answered his mother, saying, "The king will install Rama and celebrate a sacrifice' concluding this for certain, I had joyfully gone from hence. But it has fallen out otherwise. That I do not behold my father ever engaged in the dear welfare (of his subjects) cleaves my heart, mother. Of what ailment hath the king breathed his last during my absence? Blessed are Rama and others who have personally performed my sire's last rites. Surely the renowned monarch doth not know that I have come. (If he had done so), pressing down my head, my father would at once have smelt it. Where is now the soft hand of that energetic one which used to rub my person when it was covered with dust? Do you now without delay convey the news of my arrival unto the vigorous Rama, who is at once my father, brother and friend, and whose beloved servant I am. The eldest brother of one that is noble and cognisant of morality, becomes his father. I shall take hold of his feet: he is now my refuge. And, noble lady, what did that virtuous one cognizant of virtue, that pre-eminently pious one, firm in his vow, and having truth for prowess--even my father, say? I wish to hear news concerning us relative to the last moments of the monarch." Thus asked, Kaikeyi related all as it had happened, saying, "Bewailing 'Ah Rama!' 'Ah Sita!' 'Ah Lakshmana!' that magnanimous one, the foremost of those that have attained to excellent state (after death), has gone to the next world coming under the law of time. Thy father like a mighty elephant fast bound with a cord, said unto me these words during his last moments,--'Blessed are they that shall see Rama and the mighty-armed Lakshmana returned along with Sita.'" Hearing this, Bharata apprehending a second misfortune was deeply moved; and with a sad countenance, he again asked his mother, "Where hath gone that righteous* souled one, the enhancer of Kaucalya's joy, along with Lakshmana and Sita?" Thus questioned, his mother at the same time duly said in words. which although highly unwelcome, she took as agreeable to Bharata, "O son, that son of the king wearing bark has repaired to the forest of Dandaka, along with Vaidehi and followed by Lakshmana." Hearing this, Bharata apprehending some moral lapse on the part of his brother from the dignity of his race, asked in agitation, "Has Rama deprived any Brahmana of his wealth? Or has he wronged any innocent person, whether rich or poor? Has the fancy of the prince gone after the wife of another? For what reason hath brother Rama been banished?" Thereat his volatile mother, influenced by her feminine nature, related faithfully unto him her own doings, Thus asked by the magnanimous Bharata, Kaikeyi vainly turning herself on her wisdom, joyfully said, "Rama has deprived no Brahmana of his property, nor hath any innocent person rich or otherwise been wronged by him,-- nor doth he ever with his eyes look at the wife of another. O son, as soon as I heard of Rama's (coming) installation, I asked for the kingdom to be conferred on thee, and Rama to be banished. Thereupon, he, staying by his promise, did accordingly: Rama hath been banished along with Sumitra's son and Sita.' Not seeing his beloved son, the illustrious lord of earth, stricken by grief on his account, has breathed his last. Do thou now, O thou cognizant of duty, take charge of the kingdom. I have done all this in thy interests. Do not give way to sorrow. O son, assume patience. This city is subject to thee, as well as this peaceful kingdom. Having with the help of the principal Brahmanas headed by Vasishtha, duly performed the funeral obsequies of the king, do thou, without suffering thy energy to depart, install thyself in the kingdom."

[164] The text is evidently corrupt. From the sequel it appears that Bharata had _not_ seen the king at that time. The commentator, however, passes over the point in silence, which is to be accounted for by the slovenliness of the way of thought characterizing the Sanskrit commentators in general. An English commentator would have considered the matter as of very great importance, but his Hindu brother takes it quietly, and passes on with indifference.--T.

SECTION LXXIII.

Hearing of his father's death and the exile of his brothers, Bharata burning in grief, said these words, "Deprived of my father as well as my brother like unto a father, what shall I bewailing them and undone by thee do with the kingdom? Thou, like one throwing alkali on a sore, hast, by bringing about the death of the king and making Rama an ascetic, heaped grief on grief. Thou hast come like the fatal night for the destruction of this race. Not understanding it, my father embraced live coal. O thou that hast thy gaze fixed on sin, it is through thee that my sovereign has come by death; and that, O stainer of the line, this race has by thy infatuation been deprived of its happiness. Having got thee, my illustrious sire intent upon truth, king Dacaratha, afflicted by extreme sorrow, has departed this life. Why hath the king, my father, ever loving virtue, been deprived of life? Why hath Rama been banished; and wherefore hath he gone to the woods? Afflicted with grief for their son, even if Kaucalya and Sumitra live, it will be hard for them to do so in the presence of thee, my mother. Surely the noble and virtuous Rama, well knowing his duties towards his superiors, regards thee as highly as he doth his own mother. In the same way, my eldest mother, the far-sighted Kaucalya, doing her duties by thee, bears herself like a sister. Why, O sinful one, having sent to the woods her magnanimous son, clad in bark, dost thou not grieve? Having exiled the famous and heroic Rama seeing no sin, clad in bark, what benefit dost thou perceive as thine? I deem that thou didst not know how very highly I regarded Raghava; and therefore it is that thou hast brought this mighty calamity. Not seeing those chiefs of men, Rama and Lakshmana, by virtue of whose energy can I venture to rule the kingdom? The monarch was ever protected by that powerful one possessed of mighty energy, as Meru is protected by its forest. Like a calf burdened with a load capable of being borne by a mighty ox, by what energy shall I bear this burthen which was borne by an exceedingly strong person? And even if this strength be mine through _yoga_ or vigor of intellect, I will not crown with success the hopes of thee, proud of thy son. Nor, had Rama not always regarded thee as his mother, would I hesitate to renounce thee, whose heart hath been set on sin. O thou that viewest unrighteousness, O thou who hast fallen off from the way of the good, how could such thoughts unworthy of our line, arise in thy mind? In this race, the eldest brother of all is installed in the kingdom: the other brothers remain under him. O fell one, thou dost not, I think, know the morality of kings, or the consequence that attends its faithful observance. Of all the princes, the eldest is always installed as the king. Even this is the accepted principle of all sovereigns--specially the descendants of Ikswaku. But to-day the pride of character of those whose virtue was their sole concern,[165] and who shone in the character of their line, has been humbled through thy instrumentality. And how, O highly exalted lady, O thou that wast born in a royal race, could such reprehensible fatuity take possession of thy senses? But, O thou bent upon sin, I will by no means fulfil the wish of thee by whom hath been brought in the first instance this calamity calculated to end my existence. Further, O sinless one, I will do this at present to displease thee: I will bring from the forest my brother dear unto his relatives. And having brought back Rama, I will in a perfectly contented spirit, become the slave of that one of flaming energy." The high-souled Bharata afflicted (his mother) with multitudes of words causing pain; and distressed with grief, emitted sounds like unto a lion in the cave of Mandara.

[165] Another interpretation is;--_Whose virtue is their sole protector_.--T.

SECTION LXXIV.