Bharata, Son of Daśaratha

Bharata was the second son of King Daśaratha and Queen Kaikeyī, a prince of Ayodhyā. He served as regent while Bhagavān Rāma was in exile. His mother’s plans put him on the throne, but he never took the kingship as his own. He placed Rāma’s pādukās (sandals) on the throne and ruled only as Rāma’s steward from the village of Nandigrāma.

The Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa teaches that Bharata is the aṃśa (portion) of Saṃkarshaṇa, one of the four vyūhas (forms) of Vāsudeva. After Rāma returned, Bharata led the great campaign against Śailūsha, the king of the gandharvas. He won a seven-day battle and founded the cities of Pushkarāvatī and Takshaśilā for his sons.

Divine identity: Saṃkarshaṇa’s aṃśa

The Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa gives this teaching through the gandharva Nāḍāyana, who speaks to Śailūsha (Chapter 212). Bhagavān Rāma is the avatāra (descent) of Vāsudeva himself. His brothers are manifestations of the four vyūhas:

  • Bharata is the aṃśa of Saṃkarshaṇa, the second vyūha, linked with cosmic dissolution and divine strength.
  • Lakshmaṇa is the aṃśa of Pradyumna.
  • Śatrughna is the aṃśa of Aniruddha.

So Bharata is not only a loyal brother and an excellent king. He is a divine power in human form. His rule of Ayodhyā during Rāma’s exile, his campaigns and his founding of cities are all the work of Saṃkarshaṇa’s power in the world (Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 212).

The great campaign

Śailūsha’s gandharva forces had been raiding and threatening the kingdom. The north-western lands needed to be made peaceful. Rāma chose Bharata for the task. The preparations were grand. A four-division army gathered, allied kings from all the northern lands joined, and the army set out under Bharata’s command.

Rāma gave Bharata his own special arrow, the Rāmāstra, to be used against the greatest enemy. Bharata’s maternal uncle Yudhājit, the king of Kekaya, went with the army as guide and charioteer. His capital Rājagṛha served as the army’s base (Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 202–208).

The seven-day battle

Bharata and Śailūsha fought for seven days. The Purāṇa gives a long and detailed account of this war. These are its key moments.

  • Day 2. Bharata and Śailūsha fought for the first time in a full bow duel. Each broke the other’s bows again and again. Śailūsha cut Bharata’s crown. In the darkness of the evening, Bharata showed generosity and let Śailūsha withdraw.
  • Day 3. Bharata asked all the allied kings to stand aside and watch. He fought the whole gandharva army alone, to spare them from the gandharvas’ māyā (tricks of illusion).
  • Day 6. Śailūsha shot Bharata in the heart, and Bharata fainted. He recovered and fought back.
  • Day 7. This was the decisive fight. Bharata offered single combat and Śailūsha agreed. After an extraordinary night battle in which both sides used all their astras (divine weapons), Bharata invoked the Nārāyaṇāstra and then the Rudrāstra. The Rudrāstra blazed through Śailūsha’s golden armour and stopped his heart. Śailūsha died in his chariot.

Then Śailūsha’s son attacked in return. Bharata’s Kālāstra destroyed thirty crore gandharva soldiers in a single release (Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 260–266).

Indra’s vara: the two cities

After the victory, Indra came down from svarga (heaven) with all the devas and praised Bharata. He offered him a vara (a boon). Bharata asked:

“Let two great cities be built for my sons, on both shores of the ocean. Let Pushkara’s city be Pushkarāvatī and Taksha’s city be Takshaśilā.”

Indra granted it. Bharata stayed four months in Rājagṛha. He kept Cāturmāsya (the four-month vow), offered pūjā to Vishṇu and honoured the allied kings with gifts. Then he built the two cities and consecrated his sons as their kings. He left both kingdoms in Yudhājit’s care and began the long journey back to Ayodhyā (Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 269).

Return and reunion with Rāma

Lakshmaṇa came to the gates of Ayodhyā to meet Bharata and led a formal welcome procession. Bharata bowed down before Bhagavān Rāma on the throne. Rāma raised him, embraced him with great joy, kissed his head and seated him by his side. Bharata gave Rāma the treasures of the gandharvas and told him everything.

The Purāṇa records that Bharata kept Rāma’s feet in his mind not only when awake but even in his dreams. His devotion to Rāma was complete. The two brothers ruled Ayodhyā together. Rāma ruled with Bharata at his side, and the divine unity of the vyūhas of Vāsudeva and Saṃkarshaṇa showed itself in the rule of dharma on earth (Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 269).

Sources

  • Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 201–269 (including Chapter 212, Chapters 202–208, Chapters 260–266 and Chapter 269)
  • Agni Mahā Purāṇa