Enjoy reading (Padhugas)

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Part 1 - Page 226

Sandals (Padhugas) Enthroned

Excerpt

On the 6th Day of their stay, Bharata called together his brother Satrungha and

his own aides and followers and waited for the right moment to approach Rama

and when he found that moment he, with suffiecient courage, lay himself

prostrating at His feet and prayed:

" O, Mark of Auspiciousness....You are undergoing all kinds of trouble for my

sake. Lord, I am awaiting your commands. For fourteen years, I shall be waiting

for your return and serving you in the kingdom. Show me the path by which I can

feast my eyes on your Lotus Feet when the period of exile ends. Teach me the

courage I need to survive these fourteen years of separation. Rama, your

subjects, their families, the people residing in the vast empire, the Brahmins,

the Pundits - all are spiritually earned. They are bound to you by feelings of

reverential devotion. They are bearing the pangs of misery buoyed up by the

love you bear unto them. I care not even for the attainment of self-realisation

if, to attain it, I am separated from you. You are aware of the inner feelings

of your servants, you know their deepest desires. You can guide me and lead me

to the goal, here and thereafter. This conviction is the sustenance and

strength on which I exist. On account of this conviction, I treat all this

agony as just shrivelled blades of grass. Till now, I elaborated before you my

sorrows as if they were burdening my head. That was a failing on my part. Do

not hesitate to reprimand me for this failure."

Hearing this, the gathering hailed Bharats statements and expressed their

appreciation. As the Hamsa, Celestial Swan, is able to separte the milk from

the water which is mixed with it and drink just the milk, so, they said,

Bharata had separated the truth from the untruth and given expression to the

truth alone.

Rama, compassionate towards the distressed, listened to those words poured from

the pure heart of his brother. Rama replied thus, in conformity with the place,

the time and the circumstance:

"Brother! For you who reside at home, and for us who reside in the forest, there

is the One who fosters all, to foster and fend. You have in a wordly practical

sense, the perceptor Vasishta and the Emperor Janaka as guardians and guides.

No trouble can bother either you or me, even in our dreams. No, it can never

happen. The highest duty for us is to carry out strictly the commands of our

father. That alone can confer on uns all the good we long for, that alone can

enable us to earn lasting renown. That path is the one approved by the Vedas.

The Vedas declare, that whoever reveres the command of the preceptor, the

father and the mother and walks on the right path, is the noble example for

all.

Be aware of this truth and throw away the shroud of grief. Take up the burden of

theEmpire, rule over it for 14 years with justice and rectitude as your ideals.

...............

Rama exppounded many a useful doctrine of political ethics to Bharata. But

Bharata was too agitated to earn mental peace as a result of Rama's advice. The

mothers, teachers and ministers stood benumbed, for they too were overcome by

the imminence of the moment of parting.

Suddenly, Rama in his infinite graciousness loosed his sandals and gave them to Bharata.

Bharata reverentially accepted them in his palms and placed them on his head.

Tears streamed from his eyes, like the twin rivers, Ganga and the Yamuna.

Bharata could not express his joy in words.

"These are not the sandals worn by the Ocean of Mercy! These are the guardians

of the lives and prosperity of all mankind! These are the chests enclosing the

precious treasure of Rama's brotherly love. They are the protecting doors of

the fort which enshrines the royal fame of the Raghu clan. These are the two

hands that are ever engaged in good deeds. These are the veritable eyes of the

Universe. These are the symbols of Sita and Rama who are coming with us as

these two."

Bharata extolled the sandals thiswise and danced around them in sheer joy and

thankfulness. All present fell at the feet of Rama and acknowledged the

sublimity of Rama's grace.

.......Rama appreciated the spirit of contentment with which Bharata welcomed the

sandals and drew Bharata near and embraced him fast and firm with great

affection and delight.

With sisterly love - Gitta