Shloka 2.85.2
भरत-गुहसंवादः (Bharata and Guha: Trust, Hospitality, and the Burden of Grief)
ऊर्जितः खलु ते कामः कृतो मम गुरोस्सखे।यो मे त्वमीदृशीं सेनामेकोऽभ्यर्चितुमिच्छसि।।2.85.2।।
dhyānanirdharaśailena viniśśvasitadhātunā |
dainyapādapasaṅghena śokāyāsādhiśṛṅgiṇā ||2.85.19||
pramohānantasattvena santāpauṣadhiveṇunā |
ākrānto duḥkhaśailena mahatā kaikayīsutaḥ ||2.85.20||
Bharata, Kaikeyī’s son, was overwhelmed by a vast mountain of sorrow: its unbroken rocks were his brooding thoughts, its ores his heavy sighs, its thickets of trees his dejection, its lofty peaks grief and weariness; its countless creatures were stupor, and its bamboo-groves and healing plants were burning anguish.
O dear friend of my elder brother, your desire to extend hospitality to this large army all alone is indeed noble.
The verse illustrates how devotion to dharma can produce profound inner turmoil when one is linked to adharma (Kaikeyī’s actions); Bharata suffers because he cannot accept unrighteous gain.
As night deepens, the narration turns inward to Bharata’s state: he is mentally overrun by grief, described through an elaborate mountain-metaphor.
Moral sensitivity and remorse without guilt: though not the doer of wrong, Bharata feels crushed by the consequences and seeks to restore truth and right order.