Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 96: Lakṣmaṇa Notices Bharata’s Army
Text 2.96.17
संपन्नं राज्यमिच्छंस्तु व्यक्तं प्राप्याभिषेचनम्।
आवां हन्तुं समभ्येति कैकेय्या भरतः सुतः॥
sampannaṁ rājyam icchaṁs tu vyaktaṁ prāpyābhiṣecanam
āvāṁ hantuṁ samabhyeti kaikeyyā bharataḥ sutaḥ
sampannam rājyam = a prosperous kingdom; icchan = desiring; tu = and; vyaktam = it is evident that; prāpya abhiṣecanam = has been coronated; āvām = both of Us; hantum = to kill; samabhyeti = is coming; kaikeyyāḥ = Kaikeyī’s; bharataḥ = Bharata; sutaḥ = son.
It is evident that Kaikeyī’s son Bharata has been coronated and, desiring a prosperous kingdom, is coming to kill both of Us.
1 This is further evidence that Lakṣmaṇa was elder to Bharata by birth because Lakṣmaṇa was the heir to the kingdom after Rāma.
[Lakṣmaṇa referred to Bharata as] Kaikeyī’s son [to assert that] Bharata’s nature was cruel [for] even after being coronated [as the crown prince] at the insistence of Kaikeyī, Bharata was dissatisfied. [Lakṣmaṇa also asserted that] Bharata desired a prosperous kingdom, that is, a kingdom without thorns and that He had come to kill Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa who were heirs to the kingdom.1