As Rama cognizant of righteousness was thus encouraging Bharata,
Javali--best of Brahmanas--addressed him in words divorced from
morality, saying, "O Raghava, endowed with a noble understanding and
leading a life of asceticism, do not suffer thy intellect to entertain
inanities, like any low person. Who is whose friend? And to what is one
entitled and by virtue of what relation? And who is such? Since a
creature is born alone and dies alone, a person that cherishes his
father and mother with affection, must, O Rama, be looked upon as a
madman. No individual hath any one (in this world). As on the eve of
setting out for another country, a person stays somewhere (outside the
village he lives in), and the next day goes away, renouncing that abode,
even such are a man's father and mother, house and wealth. O Kakutshta,
worthy people never bear affection towards a mere abode. Therefore, O
best of men, leaving thy ancestral kingdom, thou ought not to abide in
the disagreeable forest filled with dangers and difficulties. Do thou
get thyself sprinkled in the prosperous Ayodhya. The city expects thee
wearing a single woven braid. O king's son, enjoying costly regal
pleasures, do thou sport in Ayodhya, like Sakra in the celestial
regions. Dacaratha is none unto thee, and thou too art none unto
Dacaratha: He is quite other than thy sire; and thou hast no connection
with him. Therefore, do thou act as I tell thee. A father is merely an
instrumental cause (touching the generation of his child). A father's
semen coming in contact with a mother's blood, at the time befitting
conception, a person is brought into being. The king hath gone the way
he should. This is the nature of all creatures. But thou for naught
denyest thyself (the manliness of monarchal power). Those that
disregarding interest are devoted to virtue, do I mourn--and not others;
for having suffered misery here, they in the end meet with extinction.
People engage in Ashtaka[191] in behalf of ancestors and deities. Behold
the waste of edibles. Doth any dead person feed? If food partaken by one
is transferred to the body of another, offer Sraddha unto one going to a
distant land, and that shall serve for his provender on the way. Works
(on morality) enjoining--'Worship,' 'Give away,' 'Be initiated,'
'Observe rites,' 'Renounce',--have been composed by intelligent persons,
for inducing people to be charitable. O magnanimous one, assure thyself
there is no hereafter. Do thou remain grounded in the evident, turning
thy back on what is beyond our ken. Placing in front the intellect of
the good, and approved by all, do thou, propitiated by Bharata, accept
the monarchy."
[191] The lunar days and months for propitiating the manes.