Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana, Reading Part B

It was a very interesting read. Especially, it made me think about emotional toughness when Kaikeyi refused to cry and even asked Bharata to refrain from grief and sorrow about the death of Dasharatha by plainly saying, "thou shouldst not thus give way to grief, my son.”

Bharata finally had enough with his stone-cold, tough, and purpose-oriented mother and told her, “I have lost my father and my elder brother. Of what good is a kingdom unto me now? O evil-hearted woman, thou hast bereft this house of all joy; thou hast slain my sire and banished Rama. But I will bring my brother back from the jungle; he shall be seated on the throne.” when he realized that Kaikeyi, his mother, did not seem to have any emotional capability besides accomplish her purpose.

From reading this very interesting story, I could tell that Bharata wasn't motivated by outwardly material things like power, throne, or wealth. He seems like he wanted to live with his brother Dasharatha without slaying each other. But, just like there is only one sun in the sky, there couldn't be two kings. One had to be ousted out, and it was Dasharatha, not Bharata who faced death. Bharata's mother Kaikeyi seemed to be a key player who wiped out Dasharatha.

I really liked the vivid and detailed description of what Bharata did for his brother during the funeral ceremony: Hearing Vasishtha's words, Bharata, cognizant of duty, bowed down to the ground and despatched the ministers for performing the last rites. And raising from under the oil the body of the king, with a sallow countenance and appearing to be asleep, Bharata placed it on the ground upon a couch in front, adorned with various gems.

It was also very fascinating to read about the special gold Sandals that somehow enables all the success and accomplishment. It sounded somewhat similar to Roman mythology which oftentimes has symbolic sandals.

Bharata's Return. Source: Bharata sets out to find Rama

Bibliography:

Sources used: M. Dutt, R., Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder.

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