Talks on the Gita -Vinoba 136

Chapter 12 SAGUNA AND NIRGUNA BHAKTI 63. Complementarity between Saguna And Nirguna: Examples From The Ramayana 21. Bharat, on the other hand, was a nirguna devotee. Tulsidas has beautifully sketched his character too. When Rama left for the forest, Bharat was out of Ayodhya. When he returned, Dashrath, his father, had already died. Bharat was asked by Vasishtha (preceptor of the royal family) to take up the reins of the kingdom. But Bharat insisted on meeting Rama at the earliest. He was impatient to see Rama, but busied himself in making necessary arrangements for the kingdom. He did not consider the throne as his own; and felt that the kingdom rightfully belonged to Rama and he must look after it as Rama’s representative. Like Lakshman, he could not just abandon everything and follow Rama. For him, devotion to Rama meant doing his work; otherwise, what value could such devotion have? He first made necessary administrative arrangements and then only proceeded to meet Rama. He met Rama and said, “Dear brother, it is your kingdom, you should...”, but Rama did not let him complete the sentence and told him to go back and discharge the kingly duties. Bharat hesitated, but bowed before that command. Rama’s word was law for him; he had left everything to Rama. 22. He went back. But, interestingly, he did not live in Ayodhya. He preferred to stay in a nearby forest doing penance and ruled from there. When Rama and Bharat met after fourteen years, it must have been difficult to make out which of them was the true ascetic who had performed penance in the forest. If somebody draws a picture of this meeting, depicting Rama and Bharat looking alike, with just a little difference in age and having the same lustre of penance on their faces, it would indeed be a remarkable and elevating picture. Bharat was physically away from Rama, but his mind was never away from him even for a moment. Although he attended to the affairs of the kingdom, his mind was with Rama. Nirguna bhakti is thus filled to the brim with saguna bhakti. How can one then speak of separation? That is why Bharat did not feel any sense of separation. After all, he was doing the Lord’s work.