# Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 67 — Bharata rejects Kaikeyī’s scheme *He condemns the loss of his father and elder brother, refuses the Kingdom and promises to bring Rāma back* Portion: Bharata rejects the Kingdom · Verses: 15 · Ref format: 2.67. ## Sequence - Bharata asks what use a Kingdom is without his father and the elder brother who was like a father to him (67.1–3) - he accuses Kaikeyī of destroying the family and bringing unbearable grief to Kausalyā and Sumitrā (67.4–5) - he reminds her that Rāma treated her as his mother and Kausalyā treated her as a sister (67.6–9) - he says she never understood his love for Rāma, on whom the Kingdom depended (67.10–12) - he refuses to fulfill her wish even if he could bear the burden of rule → he declares that he will bring Rāma back from the forest (67.13–15). ## Verses **2.67.1** śrutvā tu pitaraṃ vṛttaṃ bhrātaru ca vivāsitau bharato duḥkhasaṃtapta idaṃ vacanam abravīt Having heard that his father had passed away and that his two brothers had been sent into exile, Bharata, tormented with grief, spoke these words: **2.67.2** kiṃ nuṇkāryaṃ hatasyeha mama rājyena śocataḥ vihīnasyātha pitrā ca bhrātrā pitṛsamena ca What use now is a kingdom to me here — ruined and grieving, bereft of my father and of my brother who was like a father to me? **2.67.3** duḥkhe me duḥkham akaror vraṇe kṣāram ivādadhāḥ rājānaṃ pretabhāvasthaṃ kṛtvā rāmaṃ ca tāpasaṃ You have heaped grief upon my grief, as though laying caustic on a wound, having reduced the king to the state of the dead and made Rāma an ascetic. **2.67.4** kulasya tvam abhāvāya kālarātrir ivāgatā aṅgāram upagūhya sma pitā me nāvabuddhavān You have come like the Night of Doom for the destruction of the family; my father embraced a live coal and did not perceive it. **2.67.5** kausalyā ca sumitrā ca putraśokābhipīḍite duṣkaraṃ yadi jīvetāṃ prāpya tvāṃ jananīṃ mama It will be hard for Kausalyā and Sumitrā, tormented by grief for their sons, to go on living, now that they have got you for my mother. **2.67.6** nanu tv āryo 'pi dharmātmā tvayi vṛttim anuttamām vartate guruvṛttijño yathā mātari vartate Surely even the noble and righteous one, who knows the conduct due to elders, behaves toward you with the utmost regard, just as one behaves toward a mother. **2.67.7** tathā jyeṣṭhā hi me mātā kausalyā dīrghadarśinī tvayi dharmaṃ samāsthāya bhaginyām iva vartate And likewise my eldest mother, the far-sighted Kausalyā, holding firm to dharma, behaves toward you as toward a sister. **2.67.8** tasyāḥ putraṃ kṛtātmānaṃ cīravalkalavāsasaṃ prasthāpya vanavāsāya kathaṃ pāpe na śocasi Having sent off her disciplined son, clad in bark and tree-rind, to dwell in the forest, how do you feel no grief, O wicked woman? **2.67.9** apāpadarśinaṃ śūraṃ kṛtātmānaṃ yaśasvinam pravrājya cīravasanaṃ kiṃ nu paśyasi kāraṇam Having driven into exile the heroic, disciplined, illustrious one who looks upon no evil, clad in bark garments — what reason, then, do you see? **2.67.10** lubdhāyā vidito manye na te 'haṃ rāghavaṃ prati tathā hy anartho rājyārthaṃ tvayā nīto mahān ayam Greedy as you are, my feeling toward Rāghava was not, I think, known to you; for such a great calamity has been brought on by you for the sake of the kingdom. **2.67.11** ahaṃ hi puruṣavyāghrāv apaśyan rāmalakṣmaṇau kena śaktiprabhāvena rājyaṃ rakṣitum utsahe For, not seeing those two tigers among men, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, by what power and might could I venture to guard the kingdom? **2.67.12** taṃ hi nityaṃ mahārājo balavantaṃ mahābalaḥ apāśrito 'bhūd dharmātmā merur meruvanaṃ yathā For the mighty great king, righteous of soul, ever leaned upon that powerful one, as Mount Meru rests upon the Meru forest. **2.67.13** so 'haṃ katham imaṃ bhāraṃ mahādhuryasamudyatam damyo dhuram ivāsādya saheyaṃ kena caujasā How then could I, taking up this burden fit only for a mighty draught-ox, bear it — like an untamed bullock set to the yoke — and by what strength? **2.67.14** atha vā me bhavec chaktir yogair buddhibalena vā sakāmāṃ na kariṣyāmi tvām ahaṃ putragardhinīm nivartayiṣyāmi vanād bhrātaraṃ svajanapriyam But even were I to have the power, whether through stratagems or force of intellect, I will not grant you your wish, you who crave the throne for your son; I shall bring my brother, dear to his kinsfolk, back from the forest. **2.67.15** ity evam uktvā bharato mahātmā priyetarair vākyagaṇais tudaṃs tām śokāturaś cāpi nanāda bhūyaḥ siṃho yathā parvatagahvarasthaḥ Having spoken thus, the great-souled Bharata, wounding her with volleys of unwelcome words and himself stricken with grief, roared out once more, like a lion within a mountain cave.