भरतादेव रामस्य राज्यसाधारणाद्भयम्।
तद्विचिन्त्य विषण्णास्मि भयं भीताद्धि जायते॥
bharatād eva rāmasya rājya-sādhāraṇād bhayam
tad vicintya viṣaṇṇāsmi bhayaṁ bhītād dhi jāyate
bharatāt eva = of Bharata; rāmasya = Rāma is; rājya-sādhāraṇāt = who shares His right over the kingdom; bhayam = afraid; tat = of this; vicintya = by thinking; viṣaṇṇā = dejected; asmi = I am; bhayam = afraid; bhītāt = of the one who is afraid; hi = for; jāyate = one is.
Rāma is afraid of Bharata who shares His right over the kingdom. I am dejected by thinking of this for one is afraid of the one who is afraid.
1 Take the case of a snake. A person afraid of the snake will do all needed to destroy it so that it is no longer a source of fear in him. Similarly, Mantharā’s diseased intelligence imagined that Rāma was afraid that Bharata might claim the kingdom and that Rāma was therefore afraid of Bharata, and that Rāma would consequently do everything needed to destroy Bharata.
Mantharā now points out the greatness of the calamity [to fall on Kaikeyī and her son].
Fear certainly arises in one who is afraid of one who is afraid, for it is seen in the case of tigers, snakes and so on.1
1. Take the case of a snake. A person afraid of the snake will do all needed to destroy it so that it is no longer a source of fear in him. Similarly, Mantharā’s diseased intelligence imagined that Rāma was afraid that Bharata might claim the kingdom and that Rāma was therefore afraid of Bharata, and that Rāma would consequently do everything needed to destroy Bharata.