The Ramayana/Book II/Canto XCII: Bharat's Farewell

So Bharat with his army spent The watches of the night content, And gladly, with the morning's light Drew near his host the anchorite. When Bharadvája saw him stand With hand in reverence joined to hand, When fires of worship had been fed, He looked upon the prince and said: 'O blameless son, I pray thee tell, Did the past night content thee well? Say if the feast my care supplied Thy host of followers gratified.' His hands he joined, his head he bent And spoke in answer reverent To the most high and radiant sage Who issued from his hermitage: 'Well have I passed the night: thy feast Gave joy to every man and beast; And I, great lord, and every peer Were satisfied with sumptuous cheer, Thy banquet has delighted all From highest chief to meanest thrall, And rich attire and drink and meat Banished the thought of toil and heat, And now, O Hermit good and great, A boon of thee I supplicate. To Ráma's side my steps I bend: Do thou with friendly eye commend. O tell me how to guide my feet To virtuous Ráma's lone retreat: Great Hermit, I entreat thee, say How far from here and which the way.' Thus by fraternal love inspired The chieftain of the saint inquired: Then thus replied the glorious seer Of matchless might, of vows austere: 'Ere the fourth league from here be passed, Amid a forest wild and vast, Stands Chitrakúta's mountain tall, Lovely with wood and waterfall. North of the mountain thou wilt see The beauteous stream Mandákiní, Where swarm the waterfowl below. And gay trees on the margin grow. Then will a leafy cot between The river and the hill be seen: 'Tis Ráma's, and the princely pair Of brothers live for certain there. Hence to the south thine army lead, And then more southward still proceed. So shall thou find his lone retreat, And there the son of Raghu meet.' Soon as the ordered march they knew, The widows of the monarch flew, Leaving their cars, most meet to ride, And flocked to Bharadvája's side. There with the good Sumitrá Queen Kaus'alyá, sad and worn, was seen, Caressing, still with sorrow faint, The feet of that illustrious saint, Kaikeyí too, her longings crossed, Reproached of all, her object lost, Before the famous hermit came, And clasped his feet, overwhelmed with shame. With circling steps she humbly went Around the saint preëminent, And stood not far from Bharat's side With heart oppressed, and heavy-eyed. Then the great seer, who never broke One holy vow, to Bharat spoke: 'Speak, Raghu's son: I fain would learn The story of each queen in turn.' Obedient to the high request By Bharadvája thus addressed, His reverent hands together laid, He, skilled in speech, his answer made: 'She whom, O Saint, thou seest here A Goddess in her form appear, Was the chief consort of the king, Now worn with fast and sorrowing. As Aditi in days of yore The all-preserving Vishnu bore, Kaus'alyá bore with happy fate Lord Ráma of the lion's gait. She who, transfixed with torturing pangs, On her left arm so fondly hangs, As when her withering leaves decay Droops by the wood the Cassia spray, Sumitrá, pained with woe, is she, The consort second of the three: Two princely sons the lady bare, Fair as the Gods in heaven are fair. And she, the wicked dame through whom My brothers' lives are wrapped in gloom, And mourning for his offspring dear, The king has sought his heavenly sphere,-- Proud, foolish-hearted, swift to ire, Self-fancied darling of my sire, Kaikeyí, most ambitious queen, Unlovely with her lovely mien, My mother she, whose impious will Is ever bent on deeds of ill, In whom the root and spring I see Of all this woe which crushes me.' Quick breathing like a furious snake, With tears and sobs the hero spake, With reddened eyes aglow with rage. And Bharadvája, mighty sage, Supreme in wisdom, calm and grave, In words like these good counsel gave: 'O Bharat, hear the words I say; On her the fault thou must not lay: For many a blessing yet will spring From banished Ráma's wandering.' And Bharat, with that promise cheered, Went circling round that saint revered. He humbly bade farewell, and then Gave orders to collect his men. Prompt at the summons thousands flew To cars which noble coursers drew, Bright-gleaming, glorious to behold, Adorned with wealth of burnished gold. Then female elephants and male, Gold-girthed, with flags that wooed the gale, Marched with their bright bells' tinkling chime Like clouds when ends the summer time: Some cars were huge and some were light, For heavy draught or rapid flight, Of costly price, of every kind, With clouds of infantry behind. The dames, Kaus'alyá at their head, Were in the noblest chariots led, And every gentle bosom beat With hope the banished prince to meet. The royal Bharat, glory-crowned, With all his retinue around, Borne in a beauteous litter rode, Like the young moon and sun that glowed. The army as it streamed along, Cars, elephants, in endless throng, Showed, marching on its southward way, Like autumn clouds in long array.