Bharata: The King Who Refused the Throne

Who he is

Bharata was the son of Dasharatha and Kaikeyi, and husband of Mandavi. Many devotees consider him the Ramayana's purest example of selflessness; Tulsidas has Ram say that the world would not have known dharma had Bharata not been born.

His life

Bharata was at his maternal grandfather's home when Ram was exiled in his name. He returned to a silent city, a dead father and a mother who expected thanks. He gave her none. He refused the coronation, told the court that the kingdom belonged to Ram, and set out for the forest with the queens, the gurus and half of Ayodhya to bring his brother home.

At Chitrakoot he begged Ram to return and offered to serve the exile in his place. Ram would not break their father's word. So Bharata asked for Ram's wooden sandals, carried them back on his head, and set them on the throne. He himself lived outside the city at Nandigram, in bark cloth and matted hair, sleeping on the ground, eating as a hermit eats, and governing as the sandals' regent. He had vowed that if Ram did not return on the day the fourteen years ended, he would enter fire. Hanuman, sent ahead, reached him just in time. The story is in the Ayodhya Kanda.

What he stands for

Ram gave up a kingdom he had been denied. Bharata gave up one he had been handed, which is harder. He also shows that we are not bound by wrongs done for our benefit: he could have said "it was not my doing" and kept the crown. Instead he refused the gain and did the work without the title.

His fourteen years are a model of trusteeship: full responsibility, no ownership. Read Brotherhood and family and Ram Rajya: leadership as service. Next: Shatrughna.