The chariotteer followed the instrruction once he got to Bharat and Shatrughana, to bring them to Ayodhya, never revealing the tragedy to any of them. Once they enter Ayodhya, Bharat and may be Shatrughana as well, had no doubt that there was a tragedy....the mideival methodology and modern science may aspire to such gut feeling as ESP=Extra Sensory Perception. Be what it could be, the honest and sincere son of Dasharatha was in no way less in character than any of his other brothers --- Rama, Lakshmana and Shatrughana. In fact, Bharat's love was impartial and selfless for his brothers and he looked at Rama as his mentor all his life. Therefore, Bharat prioritized his brothers first in anything that he would do. Kaikayee was aware of this and she must have tried her best to brain-wash Bharat. I am not accusing Kaikayee of any defamation, but a mere selfishness that blinded her in seeing the overall picture. Now, if you will go just a few years back, the mistaken-identity death of Shrawana at the hands of Dasharatha by error in his judgemnent and eventual grief that crippled his parents, resulting in their death could not go in vain. Whether parents of Shrawana cursed Dasharatha or not, whether that cursing alone is approved by the Almighty Creator or not, is a matter of debate, but we know for the fact that such travesties have consequences. Therefore, we must thoroughly study the entire scope of resulting effects of any decisions we make, to ensure that we do not hurt some souls to the limit of their tolerance and beyond. So, now, Dasharatha pays the ultimate price of his life, which is death, an inevitable stage and he knew it. But, to fullfill the level of sorrow of separation of his beloved son Rama , the parikrama of the events must make one character blind in being selfish and our Creator decided to make that character in Kaikayee...so here again, these clouding of judgement is not in the hands of humans to a great extent. Of course, how one is raised and with what values has to do a lot as to how that person is going to turn out---selfish or selfless.
Bharat was selfless from his very early childhood, because of selfless love and values that Rama instilled in him and that comes from the fact that Kaushalya was such a great soul herself. She was humble to begin with. Now, when Bharat finds out about Dasharatha's death from his mother Kaikayee, it was too late. His equation in his mind was....what was more imortant to him and to the rest of the family was the very existence of his father. Upon his arrival, he should have been taken to his father's bedside, even though he was not alive. But instead, he had to spend those valuable moments with his biological mother Kaikayee, talking about everything else in this world but his father who has just passed away. Bharat was a very intelligent, logical and honest person and he despised the fact that the selfishness of one character has virtually brought the great Brahman ruler to death and the family to ruins. This is why he might have said what he said when he met Kaushalya, about Kaikayee.
Now, remember, if there was a feminine figure that was influential as a mother in Bharat and Shatrughana's lives, it was not Kaikayee, but it was Kaushalya. That is why, when Kaushalya barely embraced Bharat upon arrival, she must have asked him , as politely as she could...." Dearest son, please do not be disappointed and use such harsh words for anyone. The times are moving at such pace and distance that we may not have control over the entire and overall situation. I have endured the separation of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita and now this....the greatest tragedy of losing your father. Our finger-pointing is not going to turn the tide my beloved son. The world knows the love you have for Rama and his love for you. The blame-game will not diminish the sorrow that has overshadowed our lives once in for all. Bhakti....my son it is the Bhakti and Karma...what you have learned from your great brother Rama, will ultimately console you in such immense manner that you and I have no idea as to the healing power of those elements."
So, what we learn from this is that our soul has to be searched from time to time. There are many methods. One of them is to be alone from time to time, get focused and ask yourself as to whether you have been selfless to every member of your family in dealings or not. What we earn and establish here, will be left here and we do not want to be recorded in our family history as to be one of Kaikayee.
My feedback is based on a brief study of this part of scriputre. Thank you for your time.
Om Shanti.
