Shloka 2.69.14
भरतस्य दुःस्वप्नदर्शनम् — Bharata’s Ominous Dream
पीठे कार्ष्णायसे चैनं निषण्णं कृष्णवाससम्।प्रहसन्ति स्म राजानं प्रमदाः कृष्णपिङ्गलाः।।।।
pīṭhe kārṣṇāyase cainaṃ niṣaṇṇaṃ kṛṣṇavāsasam | prahasanti sma rājānaṃ pramadāḥ kṛṣṇapiṅgalāḥ ||
I saw the king seated on an iron bench, clad in black; and dark, tawny women were laughing at him—an image of humiliation and the stripping away of royal dignity.
In the dream, I beheld my father clad in black clothes and resting on a seat made of iron and the women in dark and brownish complexion laughing at him.
The verse implies that royal dignity is tied to dharma; when the king is seen dishonored, it signals a rupture in righteous governance and protection. It urges the hearer toward truthful assessment and corrective duty to uphold the moral legitimacy of rule.
Bharata describes a dream-vision where the king (implicitly Daśaratha) appears in inauspicious clothing and setting, and is mocked—heightening Bharata’s fear that disaster has struck the royal house.
Reverence for rightful authority and moral order: Bharata is shaken not merely by loss, but by the sign that the king’s honor and stability are imperiled.