Bharata having listened to Rama pleaded, "When I am already lost to righteousness, by being deprived of the dharma of serving you and now, when I have also renounced the throne how can I dispense royal duties? There exists an ancient custom in the Ikshvaku dynasty that decrees the ascendancy of the first born to the throne. Come, return with me to the abundance of Ayodhya and crown yourself king, for the greater glory of Kosala.

"Kings are mortal they say, but I deem them to be gods for being implicitly righteous in their pursuit of dharma. Their matchless virtues render them god-like. Bewailing you, yearning to behold you and unable to divert his mind from you, our father has succumbed to his grief and departed to the abode of the gods."