Bharat consented to accept the responsibilities as the raja of Koshala kingdom during Ram’s 14-year banishment. But he did so reluctantly. The prince did not feel up to ascending the Ayodhya throne. It was like supplanting his elder brother, whom he idolised. Then his mother Kaikeyi’s manipulation, which had resulted in his father’s sudden death, was too recent for him to put aside. Bharat faced a practical problem as well. He did not find himself mentally prepared to handle the complex affairs of state. He had decided instead to live the life of a hermit some distance away from Ayodhya till Ram returned from his banishment.
Ram fully understood Bharat’s predicament. But the throne could not be kept vacant for that long. He thought of a way out. He would hand his younger brother a token of his presence to fill the void. Having given up nearly all his possessions, there was still a pair of clogs that he could part with. Yet, Ram hesitated momentarily. In the words of Sant Tulsidas –
Bharat seel gur sachivsamaju/SakuchsnehbibasRaghuraju//
Prabhu karikripapaanvaridinhi/Saadar Bharat sees dharlinhi//
On the one side was Bharat’s deep affection and on the other was the presence of the gurus, ministers and the society! Raghunath – Ram – was subdued by the feelings both of hesitation and affection. At last (in consideration of Bharat’s feelings), Ram gave away his clogs and Bharat respectfully put them on his head.
-Ramcharitmanas, Ayodhya Kand, 315(ii)
Ram, as the elder brother, had sensed young Bharat’s reservations about his ability to adequately handle the duties of a monarch. In Ramcharitmanas (ibid, 314(iv)), he advises Bharat that “the responsibility of the land, treasury, kinship and family et cetera lies at the dust of Guru-ji’s (that is, Muni Vashisht’s) feet”. With due respect, Sant Tulsidas seems to have adopted rather a patronising attitude towards poor Bharat. To be at the head of a flourishing state has never meant – then, as now -handing over sovereign powers to someone else. It demands absolute commitment and dedication of the head that wears the crown.
Rishi Balmiki, in comparison to Tulsidas, however,gives due recognition to Bharat as a responsible and dignified Raghuvanshi prince. His Ram is also a man of affairs. While intending to give Bharat a rundown on kingship, Ram takes care not to hurt his ego (see Balmiki Ramayan, Ayodhya Kand, Canto 100). He starts with making enquiries about the wellbeing of his family and everyone else in Ayodhya. His questions of a domestic kind smoothly lead to the broader issues of the polity of his times. In this manner Balmiki touches upon numerous aspects of governance, such as the raja’s conduct, the qualities of his ministers, employment in royal service, defence of the realm, economy, maintenance of secrecy of the state, spy network, taxation and penal systems, law and order and so on (ibid, shlokas 9-75). Ram’s questions to Bharat, being rhetorical in nature, are as good as affirmations.It would be helpful to have a cursory look through Balmiki’s eyes at the contemporary society and what kind of a raja Ram expected Bharat to be.
In those times, learned Brahmins, from the Raj Guru, such as Muni Vashisht, to the priests performing sacred duties, were given the highest regard. Next below them in the social hierarchy were the experts on warfare and state-craft, followed by the ministers of the state. It was expected of the ministers to be brave, learned in the shastras, in control of their sense organs, of high lineage and capable of reading a person’s mind just by watching his outward behaviour. All functionaries close to the raja were to maintain strict secrecy in the matters of the state.
As a matter of economy, projects which required less resources but gave big results were begun promptly. No delay was tolerated there. The rajas of other realms came to know of his projects only on their completion, or near completion. The knowledge of the raja’s future plans was kept secret from them. The common masses knew not of his settled thoughts until he or his ministers shared them publicly. In choosing his staff, the raja preferred to have a few capable persons to assist him rather than go for a thousand others who lacked ability. Meritocracy was the order of the day – the ablest got the principal jobs, the mediocre ones were given the middling positions, while the rest performed the lowly roles.
But what of the raja himself? He was the master of all that he surveyed, including himself. As a private person, he had to ward off against the ten failings common to the contemporary men – hunting, gambling, sleeping during daytime, slandering, womanising, drinking, dancing, singing, playing musical instruments and wandering. In the role of a raja, he was expected to avoid fourteen more failings, to name: atheism, autocracy, consulting those in the matters of state who did not have the requisite expertise, lying, anger, carelessness, dilatoriness, avoidance of the company of the wise, laziness, overindulgence of five sensory organs, lack of initiative to start a project already decided, giving away a state secret, not being able to celebrate auspicious occasions and last, but not the least, attacking all the enemies simultaneously.
As raja, he had to be strict with himself. Deliberating on the means to attain a desired goal,he might have been awake till late in the night,yet he had to get up in the morning on time. He could not be an autocrat taking decisions as he willed, neither was he expected to discuss important matters when a large number of people were present. He had to make sure that his discussions held in secrecy were not betrayed to any enemy state. In that, he could not trust even the women around him. With those under his employment, he was neither too familiar, nor remote. He might share the delicacies prepared in the royal kitchen with his ministers and courtiers, but in the matters of personal security, he had to keep an eye on the would-be assassins.
Personal security aside, the raja had to be ever vigilant against the enemy regimes. Sholakas 65-67 name eighteen key officials of the enemy who were closely watched by the raja’s trusted agents. The list throws an interesting light on the state machinery of the day: stateministers, raj purohit, crown-prince, army chief, doorkeeper to the royal chamber, chamberlain, chief of the prisons, treasurer, minister who spent money from the treasury on public works, supervisor of guards, kotwal, overseer of the skilled personnel, chief of religious affairs, chief of assembly, adjutant, protector of forts, protector of the borders and protector of forests. Barring the three officials figuring the last in the watch-list, the fifteen officials of the raja’s own administration were also under constant watch.
So, when Bharat set off from Chitrakoot, Ram gave him much more than just his clogs to govern the Koshala realm during his banishment.
The post Ram sends off Bharat to Govern appeared first on Daily Excelsior.