Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 104: Bharata Beseeches Rāma to Rule the Kingdom
Text 2.104.1
तं तु रामः समाज्ञाय भ्रातरं गुरुवत्सलम्।
लक्ष्मणेन सह भ्रात्रा प्रष्टुं समुपचक्रमे॥
taṁ tu rāmaḥ samājñāya bhrātaraṁ guru-vatsalam
lakṣmaṇena saha bhrātrā praṣṭuṁ samupacakrame
tam tu = Bharata; rāmaḥ = Rāma; samājñāya = knowing; bhrātaram = His brother; guru-vatsalam = to be devoted to His guru; lakṣmaṇena saha = and Lakṣmaṇa; bhrātrā = His brother; praṣṭum = to question [Him as follows]; samupacakrame = began.
Knowing His brother Bharata to be devoted to His guru, Rāma and His brother Lakṣmaṇa began to question Him [as follows].
This chapter describes Bharata’s request and Rāma’s counter-request.
Guru-vatsalam (“to be devoted to His guru”) indicates that Bharata was a devotee of His guru, Rāmacandra. Samājñāya indicates that Rāma understood that out of devotion to Rāma, Bharata had abandoned the kingdom He had acquired, matted His hair, put on a cloth of bark and so on.
In some manuscripts, samāśvāsya appears instead of samājñāya indicating that Rāmacandra fully consoled Bharata by speaking sweet words and so on.