Bharata, Brother of Rāma

Bharata is the second of the four sons of Daśaratha, born of Queen Kaikeyī. He is one of the best-loved examples of dharma and of selfless devotion to an elder brother. He was born from the divine pāyasam (sweet rice) of the Putrakāmeshṭi yajña, and the Vaishṇava tradition sees him as an aṃśa (portion) of Bhagavān Vishṇu.

He refused the throne that his mother had won for him through her varas (boons). He placed Bhagavān Rāma’s pādukās (sandals) on the royal seat. For fourteen years he ruled Ayodhyā as a regent, not as a king. He lived as a forest-dweller and waited for his brother to return.

Birth and divine nature

Bharata was born from Kaikeyī’s womb on Caitra Śukla Navamī, the same holy day as his brothers. He was one of the four divine sons produced through the Putrakāmeshṭi yajña. Kaikeyī received one quarter of the consecrated pāyasam, and Bharata was born from that portion. The Vaishṇava tradition holds that he is an aṃśa of Bhagavān Vishṇu. He is one of the four divine portions that came down together to destroy Rāvaṇa and the rākshasas (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapters 16–18).

Character

Even as a youth, Bharata stood out for his love of Rāma. It was greater than the usual love between brothers. The Bāla Kāṇḍa records that each of the four brothers had a special bond. Lakshmaṇa was Rāma’s constant companion, and Śatrughna was Bharata’s. But Bharata’s devotion to Rāma was so deep that it was later tested in the hardest way, and it came out purified and stronger.

Marriage to Māṇḍavī

At the vivāha (wedding) in Mithilā, Bharata married Māṇḍavī, the daughter of Kuśadhvaja, who was Janaka’s brother. This took place on the same occasion as Rāma’s marriage to Sītā, Lakshmaṇa’s marriage to Ūrmilā and Śatrughna’s marriage to Śrutakīrti. It was the high point of the Bāla Kāṇḍa, when all four princes were wed to their brides in one great mahotsava (festival) (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapter 73).

The test of dharma, foreshadowed

Bharata’s greatest test comes in the Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa. He refuses the kingdom won by Kaikeyī’s varas and asks Rāma to return. Yet the Bāla Kāṇḍa already shows the roots of this nature. He is a prince with no ambition to use his mother’s scheming for his own gain. He is devoted to the dharma by which the eldest son has the first right. That devotion would prove unshakeable even when the kingdom was placed in his hands.

In the Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa

Absence in Kekaya

When the crisis came, Bharata was in Kekaya, the kingdom of his mother Kaikeyī’s family. He was visiting his maternal grandfather and his uncle Yudhājit. He knew nothing of what was happening in Ayodhyā. He did not know of Daśaratha’s plans for Rāma’s coronation, of Mantharā’s scheming, of Kaikeyī’s demands, of Rāma’s exile or of Daśaratha’s death. He learned of these things only when royal messengers came and urged him to return at once (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapters 67–72).

Return and grief

Bharata reached Ayodhyā and found the city silent and in mourning. He learned that his father was dead, that Rāma had been sent to the forest for fourteen years, and that his own mother Kaikeyī was the cause of both. His grief was deep, and he condemned Kaikeyī completely. She had broken the family, caused her husband’s death and sent away the innocent Rāma. She had done it all for his sake, without his knowledge and against everything he valued.

Bharata told Kaikeyī directly that he would take no part in the fruits of what she had done. He carried out Daśaratha’s funeral rites with complete sincerity (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapters 74–80).

The journey to Citrakūṭa

Bharata flatly refused to be crowned king. He gathered a great procession of ministers, ṛshis, queens, soldiers and citizens, and set out to find Rāma at Citrakūṭa. He stopped at Śṛṅgaverapura, where Guha told him how Rāma had crossed the river. Then he came to Prayāga, where Bharadvāja Maharshi sent him on his way. Bharadvāja also gave the whole army a night of wonderful divine hospitality (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapters 80–90).

The meeting at Citrakūṭa

The meeting of Bharata and Rāma at Citrakūṭa is told in detail in the Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa. It is one of the best-known episodes of the whole Rāmāyaṇa. Bharata fell at Rāma’s feet in tears. He told Rāma of Daśaratha’s death and begged him to return to Ayodhyā and take the throne. He gave every argument: from dharma, from feeling and from practical need. The ministers who had come, including Jābāli, also gave their arguments. Vasishṭha told the line of the Ikshvākus.

Rāma refused completely. He would keep Daśaratha’s word and spend the full fourteen years in the forest (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapters 91–100).

The pādukā and Nandīgrāma

Bharata saw that Rāma would not change his mind. He asked for one thing: Rāma’s pādukā (sandals), to take back as the sign of royal authority. Rāma gave him his golden pādukās.

Bharata did not go back to live in the palace at Ayodhyā. He settled at Nandīgrāma, outside the city. He wore bark cloth and jaṭā (matted hair) and lived as a forest ascetic. He set Rāma’s pādukās on a throne and ruled the kingdom from Nandīgrāma in the name of the pādukās, as their servant and guardian, for the full fourteen years until Rāma returned (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapters 100–112).

In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa adds many details to Bharata’s story in the Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa.

Bharata overcome at Citrakūṭa

As Bharata’s army came near Citrakūṭa, Bharata himself was overcome (paravaśa) by being so near Rāma. Tulasīdāsa describes this state vividly. Bharata’s grief and love mixed into a feeling beyond ordinary emotion. He had come to plead with his brother to return, yet he could hardly speak or stand. Tulasīdāsa presents this state of being wholly taken over by love (paravaśatā) as itself a form of the highest bhakti (devotion) (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa).

The assembly at Citrakūṭa

A great assembly (sabhā) met at Citrakūṭa. Those present were Vasishṭha, Janaka Mahārāja, Sunayā, Atri Maharshi, Bharadvāja, all the queens of Ayodhyā and the full company from both Ayodhyā and Mithilā. Many voices urged Rāma to return. The Tulasī account especially stresses Janaka Mahārāja’s wisdom. The assembly asked Janaka to advise Rāma. Instead, Janaka turned the question around. He spoke of how Rāma’s keeping of his father’s word was itself the highest dharma, and how those who truly loved Rāma should rejoice in his integrity and not try to bend it. Janaka’s calm view helped the assembly accept what no one wanted to accept (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa).

Sunayā’s message and Janaka’s reply

Sunayā met the queens of Ayodhyā. She had a deep talk on spiritual matters with Kauśalyā and Sumitrā on Jyeshṭha Śukla Ekādaśī. Afterward she brought Janaka a private request from Kauśalyā. Kauśalyā asked that Janaka use his influence so that Lakshmaṇa would stay near Rāma. She also asked that Bharata, if he could not bear the separation, be allowed to go with Rāma. Janaka replied with deep assurance. In all three worlds, he said, Bharata was equal only to Bharata. His character was as pure as the Gaṅgā and as sweet as amṛta (the nectar of immortality). The love and trust between Rāma and Bharata were beyond understanding and beyond any wrong (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa).

The Bharata-Kūpa

The assembly ended, and Bharata accepted Rāma’s firm refusal. Rāma then asked Bharata to visit the holy places of Citrakūṭa under the guidance of Atri Maharshi. Bharata had brought tīrtha-jala (water from holy places) from all the sacred tīrthas of Bhāratavarsha for Rāma’s coronation. At Atri’s direction, Bharata poured it into an ancient kūpa (well). Atri then declared that this well would carry Bharata’s name for ever, as the Bharata-Kūpa. The grief of a coronation that never happened became the blessing of a holy place in the forest home of Rāma himself (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa).

In the Uttara Kāṇḍa of the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa

The vigil at Nandīgrāma

The fourteen years of vanavāsa (forest exile) were almost over. Bharata was at Nandīgrāma, still at his post as an ascetic regent. He wore bark cloth and matted locks, he was thin from fasting, and his eyes were wet with tears. He chanted Rāma’s name without a break and held Rāma’s pādukās to his heart. Hanumān came in the form of a brāhmaṇa with the news that Rāma would soon return. Bharata was overcome with joy and held Hanumān in a long embrace, in tears. He listened eagerly as Hanumān told all that had happened in Rāma’s vanavāsa: the abduction of Sītā, the friendship with the vānaras, the war at Laṅkā, the death of Rāvaṇa and Sītā’s return. He drank in every word as dry earth drinks rain (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Rāma-Bharata Reunion).

The reunion

The Pushpaka Vimāna landed at Ayodhyā, and Rāma and Bharata met. Bharata wept in Rāma’s arms, and Rāma held him with the warmth of countless meetings gathered into one. All Ayodhyā shared in the joy: the queens, the gurus, the citizens and the vānaras. Rāma then honoured Guha with these words, among the best-known words of friendship in the Rāmacaritamānas:

Tumha mama sakhā Bharata sama bhrātā

“You are my friend, equal to Bharata my brother.” Rāma also honoured Vibhīshaṇa and Sugrīva, and then the vānaras (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Rāma-Bharata Reunion).

At the pattābhisheka

Bharata took part in Rāma’s pattābhisheka (coronation). Vasishṭha led it, and all the great ṛshis and kings took part. It was held on Vaiśākha Kṛshṇa Saptamī. Bharata was fully happy to see his elder brother crowned at last. All that he had held in trust for fourteen years was now given back. He returned to his own place as the loving younger brother, in a world set right (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Pattābhisheka).

Rāma’s teaching on the sādhu and the dujana

During Rāma Rājya (the rule of Rāma), Bharata spent time in close talk with Rāma. He was always eager for high teaching from his elder brother. Rāma felt Bharata’s unspoken wish and gave him a famous teaching on the marks of good people (sādhu-lakshaṇa) and of wicked people (dujana-lakshaṇa). It includes the example of the sandalwood tree and the axe, the inner qualities of the sādhu and a list of the nature of the dujana. It teaches that harming others is the greatest pāpa (sin) and that serving others is the highest dharma. After hearing it, Bharata and Hanumān were filled with the highest ānanda (joy) (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Rāma’s teaching to Bharata on the nature of the sādhu).

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapters 5–18 (including Chapters 16–18 and Chapter 73)
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapters 67–112
• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa (Rāmacaritamānas), Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa
• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa (Rāmacaritamānas), Uttara Kāṇḍa: Rāma-Bharata Reunion; Pattābhisheka; Rāma’s teaching to Bharata on the nature of the sādhu