¹ While Bharata’s arguments about premature adoption of vānaprastha life are certainly nice, there is an additional factor to be considered: Daśaratha had promised something—actually he had made two promises: one to his father-in-law and one to his wife. This will become clear in this chapter. And these had to be dealt with, truthfully. If Daśaratha had not promised them, then Bharata’s arguments could have been considered. But the reality was different and therefore Rāma stressed the principle of abiding by honesty in accordance with śāstra. According to Taittirīya Upaniṣad 1.11, after teaching the resident disciple the Veda, the first instruction a spiritual master should convey to him is satyaṁ vada—“Speak the truth”—and then he should instruct him dharmaṁ cara—“Abide by Vedic dharma” and so on. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura has specifically stressed that there is no scope for duplicity or diplomacy in sādhana-bhakti.