Valmiki Ramayana 2.79.3

2.79.3

ity uktvā tu mahātejā guhaṃ vacanam uttamam
abravīd bharataḥ śrīmān niṣādādhipatiṃ punaḥ

Thus tho Nishadas' king besought:
The prince with spirit wisdom-fraught
Replied in seemly words that blent
Deep matter with the argument:
'Thou, friend of him whom I revere,
With honours high hast met me here,
For thou alone wouldst entertain
Aud feed to-day so vast a train."
In such fair words the prince replied,
Then, pointing to the path he cried:
'Which way aright will lead my feet
To Bharadvája's calm retreat;
For all this land near Gangá's streams
Pathless and hard to traverse seems?'
Thus spoke the prince: King Guha heard
Delighted every prudent word,
And gazing on that forest wide,
Raised suppliant hands, and thus replied:
'My servants, all the ground who know,
O glorious Prince, with thee shall go
With constant care thy way to guide,
And I will journey by thy side.
But this thy host so wide dispread
Wakes in my heart one doubt and dread,
Lest, threatening Ráma good and great,
Ill thoughts thy journey stimulate."
But wheu King Guha, ill at ease,
Declared his fear in words like these,
As pure as is the cloudless sky
With soft voice Bharat made reply:
'Suspect me not: ne'er come the time
For me to plot so foul a crime!
He is my eldest brother, he
Is like a father dear to me.
I go to lead my brother thence
Who makes the wood his residence.
No thought but this thy heart should frame:
This simple truth my lips proclaim.'
Then with glad cheer King Guha cried,
With Bharat's answer gratified:
'Blessed art thou: on earth I see
None who may vie, O Prince, with thee,
Who canst of thy free will resign
The kingdom which unsought is thine.
For this, a name that ne'er shall die,
Thy glory through the worlds shall fly,
Who fain wouldst balm thy brother's pain
And lead the exile home again.'
As Guha thus, and Bharat, each
To other spoke in friendly speech,
The Day God sank with glory dead,
And night o'er all the sky was spread.
Soon as King Guha's thoughtful care
Had quartered all the armv there,
Well honoured, Bharat laid his head
Beside S'atrughna on a bed.
But grief for Ráma yet oppressed
High-minded Bharat's faithful breast--
Such torment little was deserved
By him who ne'er from duty swerved.
The fever raged through every vein
And burnt him with its inward pain:
So when in woods the flames leap free