Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 113: Bharata Returns to Ayodhyā
Text 2.113.1
ततः शिरसि कृत्वा तु पादुके भरतस्तदा।
आरुरोह रथं हृष्टः शत्रुघ्नेन समन्वितः॥
tataḥ śirasi kṛtvā tu pāduke bharatas tadā
āruroha rathaṁ hṛṣṭaḥ śatrughnena samanvitaḥ
tataḥ śirasi = on His head; kṛtvā tu = upon placing; pāduke = the sandals; bharataḥ = Bharata; tadā = He then; āruroha = climbed; ratham = on His chariot; hṛṣṭaḥ = became delighted; śatrughnena samanvitaḥ = with Śatrughna.
Upon placing the sandals on His head, Bharata became delighted. He then climbed on His chariot with Śatrughna.
1 Śatruñjaya is the elephant on whose head Bharata had placed Rāmacandra’s sandals. See Rāmāyaṇa 2.112.29 and 2.97.25.
Bharata’s [arrival and] entrance into Ayodhyā is described in this chapter.
Bharata placed [Lord Rāma’s] sandals on His head, that is, He respectfully took His sandals that were on Śatruñjaya’s head and placed it on His head.1 He had asked for this earlier:
yāvan na caraṇau bhrātuḥ pārthiva-vyañjanānvitau
śirasā dhārayiṣyāmi na me śāntir bhaviṣyati
“As long as I do not hold the feet of My brother that reveal the signs of a king on My head, I will not have any peace.” (Rāmāyaṇa 2.98.8)
[Now that He got Rāmacandra’s sandals,] Bharata became delighted. He was previously frightened that He would not be allowed to be dependent on Rāma; now He was happy that He had got Rāma’s sandals now.
NOTE. Bharata here reveals the natural characteristic of a pure servant of the Supreme Lord. Prabhupāda describes such a pure devotee thus:
The highly developed soul always remains satisfied in himself by realizing himself as the eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord. Such a transcendentally situated person has no sense desires resulting from petty materialism; rather, he remains always happy in his natural position of eternally serving the Supreme Lord. (Bhagavad-gītā 2.55 purport)