In the previous chapter, we saw Dasharatha’s life parts. , Now we'll see Bharata return to Ayodhya.
Vashishtha asked for the best soldiers and ordered them to hurry to the city of ‘Rajagruha’ and ask Bharata to return to Ayodhya immediately because there was a duty waiting for him there. Vashishtha instructed them to reveal neither Rama’s banishment nor the death of Dasharatha. The soldiers sped away on their horses which were the fastest. Valmiki describes the route they took which is informative. They rode along the mountain Aparathala and on the western side of another mountain Pralamba, reached the river Malini and followed it. They crossed Ganga at the city of Hastina (not to be confounded with Hastinapura of the Mahabharata period) and traveled west. They reached Panchala Desha. Then they crossed the river Saratanda and reached a tree called ‘Satyopayana’ which they worshipped. (Such old trees were venerated and also used as landmarks). Then they reached the city of Kulinga and crossed the river Ikshumati and reached the mountain ranges called Sudama. Finally after crossing the river Vipasa where they saw various animals such as lions, tigers, elephants, and deer they, at last, reached their destination completely exhausted.
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The night the
messengers arrived, Bharata had a bad dream. He dreamt of Dasharatha clad in dirty
clothes with his hair in disorder, falling from a hill into a dirty pond. He
saw him falling into the oil. He saw the sea be dry and the moon falling on the
earth. He also saw his father dressed in black riding a chariot drawn by asses
and going towards the south. Bharata due to these evil omens feared that either
the king or Rama was dead and became restless. Bharata was very much upset and
could not be consoled by anyone in the palace and he said that he was in the
grip of some fear.
The messengers from Ayodhya entered the palace and were welcomed
by the king. They met Bharata and told him that Guru Vashishtha wanted him to
hasten to Ayodhya as a duty awaited him there. They gave him the various gifts
they had brought that were destined for Bharata’s uncle and grandfather.
Bharata enquired about the welfare of his father and his brothers. He asked
about his mother and other queens but the messengers had nothing more to say
than to ask him to leave the next day. Then Bharata took leave of his
grandfather Ashwapati, the king of Kekaya country, and assured him of his visit
whenever the king desired. The king gave Bharata a lot of gifts and bid him
farewell. It is of interest to note that special dogs were also included in the
gift list along with horses and elephants. But Bharata had no mind to examine
or think about the gifts as he was in a great hurry to return to Ayodhya, his
mind is already clouded with bad thoughts from what he had dreamt the
previous night.
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Bharata and Shatrughna left on their chariot followed by the
soldiers and they all raced towards Ayodhya. Some interesting landmarks on
their return path are, passing through several countries such as
Aparaparpata, Salyakarta, and Chaitrata forest. Then they crossed the river
Saraswati so important to our Vedic civilization, Ganga and Yamuna, which is
named here as ‘Kulinga’. Then they rested for the night and resumed their
journey. Again they crossed Ganga which was wider at this point and passed
through several cities and villages and crossing several other rivers reached
Ayodhya early at sunrise. Valmiki says that they had to spend seven nights on
this journey.
The travel time given by Valmiki is very interesting. If we
assume that they covered about 200 km a day, which is a reasonable assumption
because they had to cross a lot of mountainous and forest regions, having spent
seven days to reach the country Kekaya, we could say that it was probably about
1400 km or so to the west of Ayodhya. This would mean that this country was in
what is now Pakistan. Also in Uttrakanda, we will be seeing that Bharata went to
his grandfather’s country to help suppress some trouble and then he sent his
sons to establish kingdoms there and one of them was Takshashila. Later Greeks
established a city there which came to be known as Taxila. This is close to
Islamabad the capital of Pakistan. This information is important because some
people have recently argued that Kekaya could be in present Afghanistan and
Kaikeyi being an Afghan woman was fair and pretty hence was the favorite of
Dasharatha. This could be just speculation. In any case, in those times it was
still Bharath and Vedic civilization was present.
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As Bharata entered Ayodhya he observed to his charioteer “I
do not see the enthusiasm that reigns usually in the city. I do not hear music
from instruments that are normally played. Even the breeze that blows does not
carry the usual perfume of incense. I do not see anyone riding the elephants
or horses. The city looks empty. I also see many bad omens. I fear about the
welfare of my family”. He reached his father’s palace and found it to be dusty.
He entered it with a heavy heart. He did not find his father there and he went
to meet his mother Kaikeyi. She was happy to welcome her son and after giving
blessings enquired after her family. Bharata briefly replied and asked her
mother worriedly why his father was not there in his palace. He asked her to
tell him where he was so that he could see him and offer his respects. Kaikeyi
was so infatuated with happiness that his son was going to become the king that
she hardly realizing the gravity of the situation simply said to Bharata that
his father was no more. Bharata was profoundly shocked by the news and fell to
the ground like a tree that had been axed. Kaikeyi consoled him and said it
was not befitting a king to weep like that because all living beings should die
one day. Bharata asked his mother what was the cause of his father’s death. He
said he was eager to meet Rama and asked his mother to tell him about his
whereabouts. He then told his mother that he was eager to know what his
father’s last message was. Kaikeyi said that Dasharatha before dying cried “Oh
Rama, Oh Sita, and Oh Lakshmana. Only those who are fortunate would see you all
again”. Bharata got scared at this and asked her where Rama was. Kaikeyi
shamelessly told him that Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana left for the forest. Bharata
said that he was sure that Rama would have never committed anything which
demanded his banishment. Kaikeyi explained what had led to all this and said
that the time had come for Bharata to become the king of Ayodhya as per her
wish.
Bharata was shocked to hear that it was his mother who was responsible for all that had happened. He told her that she should end her life herself for he did not wish to kill her, an act which his brother Rama would never approve of. Kaikeyi argued that all she did was for the benefit of her son so he should just obey her and accept to be crowned. Bharata continued to insult his mother and wounded her feelings very much. Bharata told her that she had brought about the death of his dear father, sent Rama to the forest with his wife, and above all wounded Kausalya by sending her son away. He said that she had no other options than either to hang herself or run away to a forest.
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In the next chapter, we'll see Bharata’s vow.
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