Bharatāgraje

 

The most moving episodes in the Uttara Kāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa — the meeting of Śrī Rāma with Lava and Kuśa, the young princes who sing their own father's story, and the final reunion of Sītā with Mother Earth.

There are several beautiful details here: Vālmīki teaching the twins his great composition, their daily recitation before Rāma, the address “Bharatāgraje”, Rāma's questions about their identity, Vālmīki's assurance of Sītā's purity, and Sītā's final appeal to Bhūmi Devī.

1. Vālmīki sends Lava and Kuśa to sing the Rāmāyaṇa

The episode begins during Śrī Rāma's Aśvamedha Yajña. Maharishi Vālmīki arrives with Lava and Kuśa, who have been trained to sing the Rāmāyaṇa with perfect pronunciation, melody, rhythm and expression.

Vālmīki instructs them to sing before sages, scholars, kings and ordinary people. They must ask for no reward. If Rāma asks who their teacher is, they must answer that they are disciples of the great sage Vālmīki.

One particularly memorable instruction is that they should sing twenty sargas (chapters) each day. 

2. The boys sing before their own father.

Rāma hears the boys singing and is captivated by the beauty of their voices and the extraordinary composition.

The assembly notices their striking resemblance to the king. They appear almost like two youthful images of Rāma himself.

After listening to twenty chapters, Rāma is delighted and orders that the boys be given a generous reward of gold. But Lava and Kuśa decline it. They explain that, as forest-dwelling ascetics, they have no need for gold; fruits and roots are sufficient for them.

Rāma is astonished. He asks about the poem, its author and the boys' origins.

They explain that the great sage Vālmīki composed the epic, narrating Rāma's own life. Thus, unknowingly at first, Rāma listens to his own story as sung by his own sons.

3. The significance of “Bharatāgraje”

You remember the address Bharatāgraje.

Bharata — Rāma's younger brother.

Agraja — one who was born earlier; an elder brother.

Bharatāgraja — the elder brother of Bharata, namely Śrī Rāma.

The expression is an affectionate and respectful way of addressing Rāma through his relationship with Bharata.

4. Rāma recognises that the boys are Sītā's sons

As the singing continues over several days, Rāma begins to understand the truth. He recognises Lava and Kuśa as the sons of Sītā.

Tasya parishado madhye

Ramo vachanam abravit. 

Yadi shuddha samachara 

Yadi va vita kalmasha 

Pratyayamodatu kamayaha.

shvah prabhate tushapatham

maithilli janakatmaja

karutu parishan madhye 

shodhanartham mamehaca. 

He sends a message to Vālmīki asking that Sītā come before the assembled gathering and establish her purity, so that she may return to him.

Sita shapatha vikshaartham

Sarva eva samagatah 

iyam dadharathe sita

suvrata dharmavharini 

apapate parityakta

mamashrama samipatah 

imautu janaki prtrau 

ubhauca yama jatakaa 

sutau tavaiva durdharshau

satyam etad bravimite 

prachetasoham dashamat 

putro raghava nandana 

nasmarami anrtam vakyam 

tmau tu tava putrakau.

bahuvarsha sahasrani 

tapashcharya maya krta 

navpadhninam phatam tasyah 

dushteyam yadi maithilli

iyam shuddha samachara 

apapa pati devata

loka pavada bhitasya 

dasyati pratyayam tava.

This is a painful moment in the epic. Sītā has already endured the ordeal of the fire after the war in Laṅkā. Now, after years of separation and having lived blamelessly in Vālmīki's hermitage, she is asked to undergo another public test.

5. Vālmīki stands witness to Sītā's innocence.

Vālmīki brings Sītā before Rāma and the assembled sages.

The sage does not merely introduce her. He solemnly vouches for her character and declares that Lava and Kuśa are indeed Rāma's sons.

He invokes the truth of his own lifelong austerities as a guarantee of his words. He has no reason to deceive anyone, and he firmly asserts Sītā's innocence.

His testimony carries the authority of a sage whose life has been devoted to truth. 

Rama then says...

Pratyayohi mama brahman 

tava vakyaih akalmashaih

pratya yohi pura datta 

vaidehya surasannidhau

seyam loka bhayad brahman 

apapyetya bhijanata 

parityakta Maya sita 

tad bhavan kshantum arhati.

Jaramillo ca imau putrau  me

yamajatau kushilavau

shuddhayan jagato madhye 

maithilyam pritivastu me

6. Sītā calls upon Mother Earth.

Yatha aham raghavad anyam

Manasapi na chintaye

Tatha me madhavi Devi

Vivaram  datum  arhati.

thatha shapantyam videhyam 

pradurasit tadadbhutam

bhutalad utthitam divyam 

simhasanam anuttamam

sarvom sammhotitam jagat.

Now comes one of the most poignant scenes in the entire Rāmāyaṇa.

Sītā stands before the assembly. Rather than enter into another argument or defend herself through elaborate explanations, she makes a solemn appeal to Mother Earth, from whom she herself had emerged.

Her oath is essentially this:

If I have never turned my thoughts away from Rāma, then may Mother Earth receive me.

Suddenly, the Earth opens. A magnificent throne rises, and Bhūmi Devī appears to receive her daughter. Mother Earth embraces Sītā and takes her upon the throne. As the divine throne descends, Sītā disappears into the Earth.

The assembly is overwhelmed. Rāma is grief-stricken. He has recovered the truth of his sons' identity, but he loses Sītā forever from the world of human sight. 

Apashyama no vaidehim 

Mene shunyam idam jagat

Shukena parama yatto

Na shanthim manasa agamat

na sitayah param bharyam

vaure sa raghunandanah

Yagbeyajane ca patnyastham

Janaki kanchini bhavet.

7.  These chapters.

Sarga Episode

93 Vālmīki instructs Lava and Kuśa to sing

94 The twins sing the Rāmāyaṇa before Rāma

95 Rāma asks for Sītā to establish her purity

96 Vālmīki defends Sītā and vouches for the twins

97 Sītā's oath and her return to Mother Earth.

The most moving aspect of this episode is that the Rāmāyaṇa returns to its own hero through the voices of his children. Vālmīki's poem becomes the means by which Rāma discovers his sons, hears the story of his own life and comes face to face with the consequences of Sītā's suffering.

And Sītā's final act is not simply an appeal for approval. It is a return to the Mother who first gave her to the world.