Caretakers!


All the citizens of Ayodhya saw Rām, like the moon in sky, seated on aerial chariot. Overjoyed Bharata with his palms joined & his face turned towards Rām, worshipped & welcomed him in a befitting way


Rām seated on Pushpaka, shone like another Indra carrying thunderbolt in his hand. Authorized by Rām, the aerial chariot having great speed & endowed with images of swans, landed on the ground. Bharata ran & greeted Rām yet again


Rising from his seat, Rām who was seeing Bharata after a long time, delightfully embraced him. Thereafter jubilant Bharata approached Laxman & Sitā, saluted them in reverence & announced his name. Then he embraced Sugriva, Jāmbavan, Angada, Nila, Sushena, Nala, Gavaksha, Sharabh, Panas & others


Vānaras, rejoicingly asked about welfare of Bharata, who said to Sugriva-You’re fifth brother for all four of us. A friend is born of affection, while maleficence is an attribute of adversary. He then spoke to Vibhishana-Thank heaven! A very difficult task was accomplished by you as a companion of my brother Rām


Valiant Shatrughna also offered obeisance to Rām along with Laxman & reverential salutation to Sitā’s feet, bowing in humility


Rām went to his mother Kaushalya, who had become pale & emaciated due to her grief, bowed & seized her feet in salutation, delighting her heart. Offering salutation to Sumitra & Keikeyi, Rām then went to Vashishtha & offered salutations


With joined palms, citizens of Ayodhya said to Rām-Welcome to you! O enhancer of Kaushalya’s delight. Rām saw those thousands of joined palms & bowed heads appearing as lotus flowers in bloom


Taking those wooden sandals of Rām, Bharata personally placed them below the feet of his brother & said-The entire sovereignty of yours, kept with me as a deposit is being returned to you by me. My life has accomplished its purpose today & my wish stands fulfilled, in that I see you, the king come back to Ayodhya. You review your treasury, granary, palace of your spirit, everything has been enhanced tenfold by me


Seeing Bharata, speaking thus with affection to his brother, Vibhishana, Sugriva & others shed tears of joy


We may be overwhelmed, caught in the whirl of enchantment & emotional turbulence, after being given higher responsibility & thereby forego our promise of being a caretaker. We may considering ourselves as owners & overstep our limits, shirk responsibilities & act for self-aggrandizement. This adventurism is a potent recipe for decline & disaster


In our work life also, we are given responsibilities & executing them with our best abilities, without getting attached to them, keeps us sane & serene. Infact we are only caretakers in this world as everything belongs to the Supreme Lord. Our only contribution is to serve, execute prescribed duties, make things better than before & hand it over to others, before we take onward journey


karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana

mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stv akarmaṇi


Thoughts? #gameoflife

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