[Though] Bharata grew up in happiness because He was cherished by the king, He grew up in extreme happiness because He was also cherished by Rāma. He was very tender—to such an extent that even Rāma was unable to see Him [as an ascetic]. Bharata was meant to be happy, not meant to be away from Rāma.

[Lakṣmaṇa uttered] kathaṁ nu (“How is it that”) while considering [Bharata] to be like Himself. Lakṣmaṇa experienced the coldness [of the river water] because He was not separated from Rāma. [But] there was no question of the river water being cold [for Bharata] because Bharata was in separation from Rāma and because even the rivers were hot in separation from Rāma:

upataptodakā nadyaḥ palvalāni sarāṁsi ca
pariśuṣka-palāśāni vanāny upavanāni ca

“The water in the rivers, tanks and lakes have become hot. The leaves of trees in forests and groves have completely dried up.” (Rāmāyaṇa 2.59.9)

Apara-rātreṣu. [Dhārmika] young widows go [to the river to bathe] before the men begin to move around so that they don’t have to glance at their faces. Similarly, Bharata would go [to Sarayū to bathe] only late at night out of fear that people would state, “Here is Kaikeyī’s son! All this misfortune is because of Him!”

In extreme renunciation, fearless Bharata would immerse Himself in the Sarayū even though she flowed very swiftly.