Ayodhyākānda - Canto 111

Pleading the superiority of a teacher in comparison to one’s parents, Sage Vasistha by virtue of his superiority and as a concession to Bharata, a dependant of Śrī Rāma, whose vow it has been to respect the feelings of his dependants, urges Śrī Rāma to grant the prayer of Bharata. Śrī Rāma, however, contends that oneís parents are more worthy of respect even than oneís teacher and is accordingly insistent on implementing the pledge already given by him to his father. Thus discomfited in argument, Bharata makes up his mind to undertake a fast unto death as a last resort to exert pressure on him. On Śrī Rāma’s dubbing such a step as repugnant to the code of conduct prescribed for a Ksatriya, Bharata requests his elder brother to allow him to remain in exile in the forest as the latterís proxy. Śrī Rāma, however, rules out this proposition also as something preposterous, saying that oneís duty is entrusted to a proxy only on the former’s incapacity, which could not be predicated of him, and reaffirms his decision to enter Ayodhyā only after fulfilling the pledge given to his father.