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Sri:

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

Dear Smt. Ramanujam,

Thank you very much for sharing this excellent piece on Bharata. 
Swami Desikan refers to Bharata with great reverence in many places 
in the Padhuka Sahasram. Bharata's greatness is magnified by the 
fact that for 14 years he unflinchingly rendered Kaimkaryam to the 
Padhukas of Lord Rama (Satari Soori/Swami NammAzhwar as Swami 
Desikan eloquently describes in the 10 delectable verses of samAkhya 
paddhati of the Padhuka Sahasram)-PrathamOdharaNAya Bhakti BhAjAm. 

The Padhukas in turn conferred upon Bharata all the royal honors 
(since Bharata lived in the shadow of the Padhukas according to 
Swami Desikan) that he had spurned on account of the fact that the 
kingdom had been gained by the evil machinations of Kaikeyi and 
Manthara. 

Namo Narayana,

SriMuralidhara Dasan

--- In Oppiliappan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "sarojram18" <sarojram18@...> 
wrote:
>
> 
> 21. Bharatha sets out to forest
> 
> 
> 
> After the funeral rites were over Vasishta asked  Bharatha to 
assume his
> role of king of Ayodhya to which he replied that he would not do 
so and
> he wanted to go to forest and bring rama back and told the 
minsters and
> the whole retinue and army to get ready to go to forest to bring 
Rama in
> style.
> 
> 
> 
> The whole army and the ministers, courtiers along with the three 
queens
> accompanied Bharatha to forest and they reached the realm of Guha 
near
> the bank of Ganga and  Bharatha wanted the army and the animals to 
take
> rest for the night so that they could cross the river the next day.
> 
> 
> 
> Guha on seeing the great army and also the flag of the the king of
> Ayodhya knew that Bharatha had come there and he suspected that 
Bharatha
> had come to kill Rama so that he could rule the kingdom without
> fear.Guha instructed all his men to stand ready to destroy the 
army and
> Bharatha if he had come with an evil intention. He said Bharatha 
and his
> army would cross the river only if they had come with goodwill 
towards
> Rama.
> 
> 
> 
> So saying Guha as per the protocol to receive a king went to 
Bharatha 
> with presents. Seeng him Sumanthra informed Bharatha of his 
identity and
> said that he could show them the way to the place where Rama was.
> Bharatha  welcomed him and asked him to tell us the way to the 
hermitage
> of Bharadhvaja and also to provide them means of crossing the 
river.
> Guha said that he would be glad to help them and expressed a doubt
> whether Bharatha meant to do any harm to Rama upon which poor 
Bharatha
> was pained and exclaimed that what worse could happen to him than 
the
> friends of Rama suspecting him and told Guha his real intention.  
Guha
> rejoiced at his reply and prased him that no one caould equal him 
in
> sacrifice and love for Rama.
> 
> 
> 
> This scene is portrayed beautifully in Kamban.
> 
> 
> 
> Bharatha in Kambaramayana goes to forest attired as a hermit in 
bark
> garments and Guha, seeing the huge army, let out an angry outburst 
and
> vowed to kill all of them suspecting that Bharatha had brought the 
big
> army only to attack Rama. So saying he went and stood before 
Bharatha
> with his bow and arrow and Sumanthra told Bharatha about Guha and
> Bharatha went to receive him. By the mere appearance of Bharatha
> reassured Guha that he was pure. Thus the Guha and Bharatha of 
Kamban
> are both glorified by the poetry of Kamban, who says, describing
> Bharatha'a appearance and the reaction of Guha on seeing him.
> 
> 
> 
> vaRkalaiyin udaiaanai maaSu adaindha meyyaanai
> 
> naR kalai il madhi enna nagai izhandha mugatthaanai
> 
> kal kaniyakkaniginRa thuyaraanai kaNNutraan
> 
> vil kaiyininRu idai veezha vimmuttRu ninRu ozhindhaan
> 
> 
> 
> Guha sees Bharatha wearing bark garment, with his body dust 
covered, his
> face had lost its smile like the moon who had lost his luster, his
> sorrow visible to all was enough to melt even a stone. The bow of 
Guha
> slipped from his hand to his side and he stood weeping.
> 
> 
> 
> Then Guha thought,
> 
> nambiyum en naayaganai okkinRaan; ayal ninraan
> 
> nambiyaiyum okkinRaan; thavavedam thalai ninRaan
> 
> thunbam oru mudivu illai dhisai nokki thozhuginRaan
> 
> emperumaan  pin piRandhaar izhaipparO pizhaiipu enRaan
> 
> 
> 
> " Bharatha resembles my Lord and the other one(sathrughna) 
resembles
> Lakshmana. He has put on a hermit's garb and looks grieved beyond
> measure and offers obeisance with folded hands to the direction 
where
> Rama is. Will the younger brother of my Lord Rama do anything
> wrong?"
> 
> 
> 
> Then Bharatha and Guha bowed down to one another and Guha asked 
Bhartha
> the reason why he had come to forest and Bharatah told him that his
> father swerved from the tradition of his forefathers and he had 
come to
> rectify it and take Rama back.
> 
> 
> 
> Then Guha said the oft quoted words.
> 
> thaai urai kondu thaadhai udhaviya dharaNi thannai
> 
> theevinai enns neetthu chinthanai mugatthil thEkki
> 
> pOyinai enRa pozhdhu pugazhinOi thanmai kandaal
> 
> ayiram raamar nin kEzh aavaro theriyinammaa
> 
> 
> 
> " You have abandoned the kingdom handed over to you as it were by
> your father on the words of your mother as though it is evil. You 
have
> gone away with worry and anxiety displayed on your face. Your 
glory is
> indeed so great that even thousand Ramas will not be your equal."
> 
> 
> 
> Wjat Guha meant was that Rama abandoned the kingdonm because he was
> asked to do so which shows the character of Rama to be like a sage
> without desires. Moreover he obeyed his father and acted according 
to
> dharma. But no one would have blamed  Bharatha on the other hand, 
in
> accepting the kingdom seeing that he was innocent of the intrigue 
of
> Kaikeyi and was waiting for Rama to come back and then hand it 
over to
> him. But he abandoned it as though it was evil and not only that 
but he
> had put on a hermit's robes and was prepared to live in the forest
> instead of Rama, determined to make Rama accept the kingdome. Thus 
he
> had risen even above Rama in glory. This denoted no intention on 
the
> part of Guha to undermine Rama but it is to show how much more 
difficult
> it was to resist the temptation of something  offered ready on a 
plate
> than to give up something which was denied.
> 
> 
> 
> When the night came the army and others took rest, Bharatha was 
torn
> with anguish. Valmiki describes his mental state in a picturesque 
> manner and this is one of the instances when the poet Valmiki has 
the
> upperhand to the narrator Valmiki.
> 
> 
> 
> Valmiki likens the grief of Bharatha to the mount Himalayas,
> perspiration due to grief flowing from his pores as the snow 
melted by
> the firerce heat of the sun and he was oppressed by the weight of 
the
> mountain of grief whose caves were the thoughts of Rama, whose 
minerals
> were the groans and sighs coming out of him, the meloncholy 
thoughts of
> his own fate were the dense forest  of trees on the mountain. His 
sorrow
> and fatigue were the peaks of the mount. He used to swoon often 
due to
> thr anguish which was unbearable  and they are portrayed as the 
wild
> beasts roaming on the forests of the mountain.
> 
> 
> 
> Then Guha approached him and told him about Rama and Seetha lying 
on the
> floor at the very spot where they were and about Lakshmana"s grief
> on seeing them like that and who said that he could not sleep 
seeing
> Rama who is unconquerable even by devas and asuras lying on the 
ground
> with the princess of Mithila.Then Guha said Lakshmana was afraid 
that
> his father would not survive the separation and also Kousalya.
> 
> 
> 
> Bharatha lamented tha fact that because of him Rama and Seetha had 
to
> lie on the ground and he pointed out to his men the marks of the 
two
> sleeping on the bed made of darbha grass, where the traces of Rama
> turning his side due to  sleeplessness and the garment of Seetha 
got
> stuck in the grass where some threads could be seen. Then he said 
that
> he would matt his hair and sleep on the ground and eat only roots 
like a
> hermit and he would live in the forest and make Rama go to Ayodhya 
and
> accept the kingdom.
> 
> 
> 
> Then the next day they crossed the river and reached the hermitage 
of
> Bharadhvaja.
>



------------------------------------

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