बाल एव हि मातुल्यं भरतो नायितस्त्वया।
सन्निकर्षाच्च सौहार्दं जायते स्थावरेष्वपि॥
bāla eva hi mātulyaṁ bharato nāyitas tvayā
sannikarṣāc ca sauhārdaṁ jāyate sthāvareṣv api
bālaḥ eva = the young; hi = indeed; mātulyam = to His maternal uncle’s home; bharataḥ = Bharata; nāyitaḥ = have sent; tvayā = you; sannikarṣāt ca = when they are very near him; sauhārdam = affection; jāyate = one develops; sthāvareṣu = to immobile creatures; api = even.
Indeed, you have sent the young Bharata to His maternal uncle’s home. One develops affection even to immobile creatures when they are very near him.
1 Literally, the commentator writes, “Having shown the undesired [situation] to be caused by Rāma, she now reveals the crisis created by Kaikeyī.”
1 If Bharata had been along with Rāma and King Daśaratha, Mantharā thinks, the king would have developed affection for Bharata to the same extent he had developed for Rāma, but it was Kaikeyī’s fault to send Bharata off, which resulted in Daśaratha’s deep love for Rāma. This is her senile misunderstanding of what had actually happened. King Daśaratha as well as the citizens of Ayodhyā were more affectionate to Rāma because of His unique attractive qualities.
Mantharā thought “I have shown you the undesirable situation that Rāma will create in the future. Now I will reveal the crisis that you have caused.”1
Mantharā anticipates that Kaikeyī might ask, “What have I lost by sending Bharata to His maternal uncle’s home?” and so reveals the loss in the second half of the verse. One develops a mutually affectionate relationship even with immobile creatures such as trees and bushes, so what to speak of the king’s affectionate relationship with Rāma, Bharata and others?2 [Mantharā thinks that] Kaikeyī messed it up.