Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 82: Bharata Rejects Vasiṣṭha’s Request
Text 2.82.9
तच्छ्रुत्वा भरतो वाक्यं शोकेनाभिपरिप्लुतः।
जगाम मनसा रामं धर्मज्ञो धर्मकाङ्क्षया॥
tac chrutvā bharato vākyaṁ śokenābhipariplutaḥ
jagāma manasā rāmaṁ dharmajño dharma-kāṅkṣayā
tat = these; śrutvā = hearing; bharataḥ = Bharata; vākyam = words; śokena = in sorrow; abhipariplutaḥ = became overwhelmed; jagāma manasā = remembered; rāmam = Rāma; dharmajñaḥ = that knower of dharma; dharma-kāṅkṣayā = desirous of following dharma.
Hearing these words, Bharata became overwhelmed in sorrow. Desirous of following dharma, that knower of dharma remembered Rāma.
Bharata is described as a knower of dharma because He knew the dharma practiced generation after generation in His lineage, the dharma of coronating the eldest son. He desired to carry out this dharma.