Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana, Part B

          In the story “Bharata Returns” written by Donald A. Mackenzie, the author writes about Bharata, the son of  King Dasharatha and the half brother of Rama, returning home to Ayodhya. Upon arrival, his mother Kaikeyi informs him that his father had passed. Stricken with grief, Bharata cries out to his mother and asks where Rama is in order to install him as the next ruler. However, his mother explains to him that she had successfully executed a plan in which guarantees that Bharata would be the next ruler, by exiling Rama to the jungle. Astonished by his mother’s treachery, Bharata continues to stay loyal to his brother and vows to return Rama back from the jungle, in order to seat him on the throne.
Focusing on the plot, I found that it was somewhat surprising that Bharata refused to take the throne and rule Ayodhya himself. As ambitious as his mother was, he can be described as someone that is compassionate and loyal. For example, in the story, he asks what good is a kingdom when he had lost both his father and brother. I thought that this was extremely admirable considering that he could have ruled over an entire kingdom, but chose to stay loyal to his brother. Furthermore, if I could change a part of the story, Kaikeyi would not been able to flee the scene, instead she would be captured and thrown into a holding cell until Rama returned. Another thing that I would probably change is the fact that Shatrughna spared the wicked hunchback Mathara’s life. In my opinion, I think that Mathara at least deserved some sort of punishment. She did; however, was able to persuade Kaikeyi to manipulate King Dasharatha into exiling Rama. With that being said, I think that by exiling her into the jungle would be a fair punishment.

Image Information: Bharata, Image Credit: Wikipedia