# Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 63 — Bharata’s ominous dream

*Daśaratha falls into filth and oil and travels south in a donkey-drawn chariot, Bharata wakes fearing a family death*

Portion: Bharata is summoned home · Verses: 18 · Ref format: 2.63.<verse>

## Sequence

- That same night Bharata dreams of disaster and wakes deeply troubled (63.1–2)
- his companions try music, dancing, stories, and jokes, but cannot cheer him (63.3–5)
- when a friend asks what is wrong, he describes the dream (63.6–7)
- he saw his father dirty and disheveled, falling into filth, drinking oil, eating sesame rice, and sinking into oil (63.8–10)
- he also saw the ocean dry up, the moon fall, fire go out, the earth split, trees wither, mountains smoke, and women mock the King on an iron seat (63.11–13)
- finally Daśaratha rode south in a donkey-drawn chariot → Bharata interprets this as an omen of death in the family (63.14–16)
- his throat dries and his uneasiness will not pass (63.17–18).

## Verses

**2.63.1**  
yām eva rātriṃ te dūtāḥ praviśanti sma tāṃ purīm  
bharatenāpi tāṃ rātriṃ svapno dṛṣṭo 'yam apriyaḥ  
On the very night that those messengers entered that city, Bharata too on that night saw this unpleasant dream.

**2.63.2**  
vyuṣṭām eva tu tāṃ rātriṃ dṛṣṭvā taṃ svapnam apriyam  
putro rājādhirājasya subhṛśaṃ paryatapyata  
As soon as that night had dawned, the son of the king of kings, having seen that unpleasant dream, grieved exceedingly.

**2.63.3**  
tapyamānaṃ samājñāya vayasyāḥ priyavādinaḥ  
āyāsaṃ hi vineṣyantaḥ sabhāyāṃ cakrire kathāḥ  
Perceiving him tormented, his kindly-speaking companions, wishing to dispel his distress, carried on talk in the assembly hall.

**2.63.4**  
vādayanti tathā śāntiṃ lāsayanty api cāpare  
nāṭakāny apare prāhur hāsyāni vividhāni ca  
Some played soothing music, others set dancers to dance, and still others recited dramas and jests of many kinds.

**2.63.5**  
sa tair mahātmā bharataḥ sakhibhiḥ priya vādibhiḥ  
goṣṭhīhāsyāni kurvadbhir na prāhṛṣyata rāghavaḥ  
But the great-souled Bharata, the Rāghava, was not cheered by those kindly-speaking companions who made the jests of good company.

**2.63.6**  
tam abravīt priyasakho bharataṃ sakhibhir vṛtam  
suhṛdbhiḥ paryupāsīnaḥ kiṃ sakhe nānumodase  
A dear friend, seated attending him among the well-wishers, said to Bharata, who was surrounded by companions: “Why, friend, do you not join in the merriment?”

**2.63.7**  
evaṃ bruvāṇaṃ suhṛdaṃ bharataḥ pratyuvāca ha  
śṛṇu tvaṃ yan nimittaṃme dainyam etad upāgatam  
To the friend who spoke thus, Bharata replied: “Hear from what cause this dejection has come upon me.

**2.63.8**  
svapne pitaram adrākṣaṃ malinaṃ muktamūrdhajam  
patantam adriśikharāt kaluṣe gomaye hrade  
In a dream I saw my father, grimy and with disheveled hair, falling from a mountain peak into a foul pool of cow-dung.

**2.63.9**  
plavamānaś ca me dṛṣṭaḥ sa tasmin gomayahrade  
pibann añjalinā tailaṃ hasann iva muhur muhuḥ  
And I saw him floating in that pool of cow-dung, drinking oil from his cupped hands, laughing as it were again and again.

**2.63.10**  
tatas tilodanaṃ bhuktvā punaḥ punar adhaḥśirāḥ  
tailenābhyaktasarvāṅgas tailam evāvagāhata  
Then, having eaten sesame-rice again and again with his head hanging down, all his limbs smeared with oil, he plunged into the very oil.

**2.63.11**  
svapne 'pi sāgaraṃ śuṣkaṃ candraṃ ca patitaṃ bhuvi  
sahasā cāpi saṃśantaṃ jvalitaṃ jātavedasaṃ  
In the dream too I saw the ocean dried up, the moon fallen to the earth, and the blazing fire suddenly going out;

**2.63.12**  
avadīrṇāṃ ca pṛthivīṃ śuṣkāṃś ca vividhān drumān  
ahaṃ paśyāmi vidhvastān sadhūmāṃś caiva pārvatān  
and I see the earth split open, sundry trees withered, and the mountains blasted and smoking.

**2.63.13**  
pīṭhe kārṣṇāyase cainaṃ niṣaṇṇaṃ kṛṣṇavāsasaṃ  
prahasanti sma rājānaṃ pramadāḥ kṛṣṇapiṅgalāḥ  
And women, black and tawny, kept mocking that king as he sat clad in black upon a seat of black iron.

**2.63.14**  
tvaramāṇaś ca dharmātmā raktamālyānulepanaḥ  
rathena kharayuktena prayāto dakṣiṇāmukhaḥ  
And the righteous king, in haste, wearing red garlands and unguents, set forth facing south on a chariot yoked with donkeys.

**2.63.15**  
evam etan mayā dṛṣṭam imāṃ rātriṃ bhayāvahām  
ahaṃ rāmo 'tha vā rājā lakṣmaṇo vā mariṣyati  
Thus did I see this on this fearful night; either I, or Rāma, or the king, or Lakṣmaṇa is going to die.

**2.63.16**  
naro yānena yaḥ svapne kharayuktena yāti hi  
acirāt tasya dhūmāgraṃ citāyāṃ saṃpradṛśyate  
etannimittaṃ dīno 'haṃ tan na vaḥ pratipūjaye  
For the man who in a dream rides in a donkey-yoked conveyance, before long the crest of smoke from his pyre is seen; for this reason I am cast down, and so I take no delight in your entertainments.

**2.63.17**  
śuṣyatīva ca me kaṇṭho na svastham iva me manaḥ  
jugupsann iva cātmānaṃ na ca paśyāmi kāraṇam  
My throat seems to go dry, and my mind is not at ease; as though I loathed my very self — yet I can see no reason for it.

**2.63.18**  
imāṃ hi duḥsvapnagatiṃ niśāmya tām anekarūpām avitarkitāṃ purā  
bhayaṃ mahat tad dhṛdayān na yāti me vicintya rājānam acintyadarśanam  
For having beheld this course of ill dreams, manifold and never imagined before, and pondering the king whose aspect I cannot conceive, that great fear will not depart from my heart.