With sincere concern and affection, Bharata addressed Rāma, asking about the well-being of his kingdom: “Are the elephant forests well guarded, and do you have an abundance of cows? Are you satisfied with the horses and elephants in the royal stables? Do you regularly show yourself, adorned, to your people, rising early each morning and appearing on the great highway, O prince? Are all your officials’ tasks performed openly and without suspicion, or are they left unfinished, with only partial explanations given? Are your fortresses fully supplied—with wealth, grain, weapons, water, machines, and skilled archers? Is your income abundant and your expenditure modest? Does your treasury, O Raghava, avoid giving to the unworthy? Is your spending directed toward the gods, ancestors, visiting Brahmins, warriors, and friends? Is the noble person, pure in heart, never accused of theft, nor condemned by scholars without inquiry, nor punished out of greed, remaining innocent? Is the thief, apprehended and questioned at the proper time with evidence, never released out of greed for wealth, O bull among men? O Rāghava, in times of adversity or prosperity, do your well-learned ministers, impartial in judgment, look after your interests? The tears shed by those falsely accused, O Rāghava, destroy the sons and cattle of those who punish them out of desire for favor. Do you support the aged, the young, and the foremost physicians, O Rāghava, by gifts, thought, and speech—by all three? Do you show respect to teachers, elders, ascetics, deities, guests, all sacred shrines, the accomplished, and the Brāhmaṇas? Do you, by means of wealth, support righteousness, and by righteousness, wealth? Do you not harm either or both out of desire for pleasure or greed? O best among the victorious, do you, knowing the right time, serve all—wealth, righteousness, and pleasure—by dividing them according to time? Do the Brāhmaṇas, skilled in the meaning of all the scriptures, wish you well, O greatly wise one, along with the citizens and country people? Do you avoid atheism, falsehood, anger, carelessness, procrastination, disregard for the wise, laziness, and fickleness of mind? Do you avoid considering matters alone, consulting with those ignorant of misfortune, failing to act on decisions, and not protecting counsel? Do you avoid the fourteen royal faults—neglecting auspicious acts, failing to rise to occasions, and the rest? O Rāghava, do you truly understand the ten, five, four, seven, eight, and three groups, as well as the three branches of knowledge? Having mastered the senses, do you know the sixfold policy, the divine and human factors, the twenty types of duties, and the circle of subjects? Do you, O greatly wise one, properly approve of military expeditions, punishment, the two kinds of birth, alliances, and hostilities? Do you consult on counsel with ministers, as prescribed, either with four or three, or with all together or separately? Are your studies of the Vedas fruitful? Are your rituals fruitful? Are your marriages fruitful? Is your learning fruitful? Is your understanding, O Rāghava, as I have described—conducive to long life, fame, and the pursuit of righteousness, desire, and wealth? Do you follow the conduct that your father and our ancestors observed, which leads to the good and righteous path? Do you, O Rāghava, avoid eating delicious food alone, sharing it with friends who desire it? But the wise king, having governed his people with justice and upheld the law, having rightfully attained the entire earth, departs to heaven when his time comes. Thus concluded the hundredth sarga in the glorious Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa of the ancient and revered Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. Upon hearing Rāma’s words, Bharata replied earnestly, “What use is kingship to me, deprived as I am of righteousness? This is the eternal law among us, O best of men: when the eldest son is present, the younger cannot become king. Come, Rāghava, return with me to prosperous Ayodhyā and be consecrated for the good of our lineage. They call a king a mortal man, but to me he is divine, whose conduct is guided by righteousness and wealth, though he is human. While I remained in Kekaya and you had gone to the forest, our noble father, esteemed among the virtuous, ascended to heaven. As soon as you and Lakṣmaṇa departed, the king, overwhelmed by grief and sorrow, reached the heavenly world. Rise up, O tiger among men, and perform the water-rite for our father; I and Śatrughna have already offered water before. Indeed, it is said that water offered with love to the ancestors becomes imperishable in their world; and you, Rāghava, are dear to our father. He grieved only for you, longing to see you, his mind fixed on you alone; deprived of you, sick with sorrow for you, remembering you, our father passed away.” Thus ended the one hundred and first sarga in the glorious Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa of the ancient and revered Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. Hearing Bharata’s sorrowful words, which revealed the death of his father, Rāghava lost consciousness. Bharata’s words struck Rāma like a thunderbolt hurled by the foe of the Dānavas in battle, bringing down the mighty Rāma. Thus the story flows, as recorded in the ancient and revered Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa.