Who Is Bharata?
The faithful brother who gave the throne back
Bharata is a son of King Dasharatha in the Ramayana and Rama's half-brother. His mother is Kaikeyi, and he is always together with his brother Shatrughna.
When Rama was exiled, Bharata was away at his mother's home in Kekaya and knew nothing about it. When he returned to the capital and learned of his father's death and his brother's exile, he angrily blamed his mother, who had won the throne for him. He then led a large army into the forest and begged Rama to come home. But Rama, keeping his father's promise, refused.
So Bharata took Rama's sandals (paduka) back with him, set them on the throne, and ruled the kingdom only as his brother's stand-in. This scene of the sandals on the throne is famous as a picture of the deep bond between brothers.
Episodes featuring this character4
NEWEpisode 1
The Boy Whose Arrow Was Too StrongRamayana: Bala Kanda (The Book of Youth)
A poet's grief over a slain bird becomes a song, and that song becomes the story of a prince. In Episode 1, young Rama leaves his father's side to travel with a stern sage, and learns for the first time how great his own power is, and how frightening.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 2
Whoever Draws the Bow Wins the BrideSita's Swayamvara (The Bow of Shiva)
No king could even lift the divine bow, yet young Prince Rama bows to his teacher and quietly draws it. A wedding to Sita, daughter of the earth, follows—but on the road home, an axe-bearing sage named Parashurama awaits with a trial of his own.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 3
Crowned Tomorrow, Exiled TonightThe Exile of Rama (Ayodhya Kanda)
Prince Rama is set to become heir to the throne tomorrow. But long ago his father promised two wishes to the woman who saved his life, and in a single night that promise sends Rama into the forest for fourteen years. No one hates him, yet he loses everything. This is a story about the weight of a promise and what it costs to keep one.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 4
The Brother Who Wouldn't Sit on the ThroneBharata and Rama's Sandals (Paduka)
Grieving for Rama, now exiled to the forest, King Dasharatha dies, still haunted by an arrow he loosed in his youth. Bharata is offered the throne. Instead, he marches with the whole army to bring his brother home. Rama refuses to break their father's promise, so the two brothers find another answer: Rama's sandals will sit on a throne that no one else will use.
19 pages