Bharata’s righteous submission to Rama 2.106.1-end
Not only does Rama cheerfully give the kingdom up in favour of Bharata but also Bharata, in his turn, shows the same self-denial and would have given back to Rama if Rama had yielded! That is extraordinary, each brother vying with the other for making over the kingdom.
The commentator says Bharata’s submission was astonishing to the world in that it was couched with agreeable and reasonable submissions. Well-said arguments were the substance of his submission: “You are a kshatriya not a kshatriya-bandhu (a so-called kshatriya which is a positive insult to your status and valour). As an apatya (a son who prevents his father from falling down) you should follow the righteous traditions of the father, which will not let him down. Life in a forest is not given to a kshatriya. Protecting the subjects is your prime duty.
Smriti writers like Gautama, Apastamba, etc. declare the life of a householder to be the noblest and best of all four stages of life in as much as all other stages depend upon it. “How then do you seek to abandon it by staying as an anchorite in a remote forest?”
“I am junior to you in every aspect of life, be it age, learning, experience. As such, how shall I be able rule over the earth when an illustrious elder brother like you is present? I cannot live without you, much less rule over the people.
Bharata’s righteous submission to Rama 2.106.1-end
Not only does Rama cheerfully give the kingdom up in favour of Bharata but also Bharata, in his turn, shows the same self-denial and would have given back to Rama if Rama had yielded! That is extraordinary, each brother vying with the other for making over the kingdom.
The commentator says Bharata’s submission was astonishing to the world in that it was couched with agreeable and reasonable submissions. Well-said arguments were the substance of his submission: “You are a kshatriya not a kshatriya-bandhu (a so-called kshatriya which is a positive insult to your status and valour). As an apatya (a son who prevents his father from falling down) you should follow the righteous traditions of the father, which will not let him down. Life in a forest is not given to a kshatriya. Protecting the subjects is your prime duty.
Smriti writers like Gautama, Apastamba, etc. declare the life of a householder to be the noblest and best of all four stages of life in as much as all other stages depend upon it. “How then do you seek to abandon it by staying as an anchorite in a remote forest?”
“I am junior to you in every aspect of life, be it age, learning, experience. As such, how shall I be able rule over the earth when an illustrious elder brother like you is present? I cannot live without you, much less rule over the people.