Then Kaikeyi told him all that had taken place, and said: “For thy sake, my son, I have accomplished this. Sorrow not, because thou wilt be installed as ruler here.”
Said Bharata: “I have lost my father and my elder brother. Of what good is a kingdom unto me now? O evil-hearted woman, thou hast bereft this house of all joy; thou hast slain my sire and banished Rama.... But I will bring my brother back from the jungle; he shall be seated on the throne.”
Satrughna sorrowed like Bharata, and when he beheld the wicked hunchback Manthara he threw her down and dragged her across the floor, saying: “This hateful creature is the cause of our calamities. I will slay her.”
Kaikeyi flew away in terror, and Bharata said: “Slay her not, because she is a woman. I would have killed my wicked mother, but, had I done so, Rama would ne'er have forgiven me nor have spoken to me again. Spare this wretch, O Satrughna, lest Rama should be angry with thee.”
Kausalya, mother of Rama, then approached Bharata and said: “The raj is now thine, O ambitious one. Thy mother hath secured it for thee.”
Bharata fell at her feet and vowed that he would never sit on the throne, but would hasten after Rama to entreat him to return.
Then Kausalya wept and embraced him because that he was loyal to his elder brother.
When Bharata had performed the funeral rites for the Maharajah, he left Ayodhya with a strong army to search for Rama.
The two brothers met in the jungle of Chitra-kuta, and they embraced one another and wept for their dead sire.
In the morning Bharata spake to Rama in the presence of the army, saying: “This raj, which was given unto me against my will, I now gift unto thee, mine elder brother. Accept it and remove the stain of my mother's sin.”