Ayodhya Kaanda
96 - Sri Rama admonishes Laksmana and dwells on Bharataís greatness
Chaupais
Description
Darkness may swallow the midday sun, and sooner may the heavens be absorbed into a cloud or the jar-born sage Agastya (who is stated to have drunk off the ocean in a single draught) be drowned in the water collected in a cow's footprint: nay the earth may abandon its natural forbearance and Mount Meru be blown away by a puff of wind discharged from the mouth of a mosquito; but Bharata will never be intoxicated by kingly power, O brother. Laksmana, I swear by you as well as by our father that there is no brother so good and innocent as Bharata. God, dear brother, creates the world by mixing the milk of goodness with the water of evil; while Bharata is a swan, born in the lake of the solar race, that has sifted goodness from evil. Choosing the milk of goodness and discarding the water of evil he has illumined the world by his glory." Even as the Lord of Raghus extolled Bharata's virtues, amiability and noble disposition He was drowned in an ocean of love