Shloka 2.99.16
चित्रकूटप्राप्तिः — Bharata Reaches Chitrakuta and Beholds Rama
मत्कृते व्यसनं प्राप्तो लोकनाथो महाद्युतिः।सर्वान्कामान्परित्यज्य वने वसति राघवः।।2.99.16।।
mat-kṛte vyasanaṁ prāpto loka-nātho mahā-dyutiḥ |
sarvān kāmān parityajya vane vasati rāghavaḥ ||2.99.16||
Because of me, the radiant Lord of the world has met with calamity: Rāghava, renouncing every desire, dwells in the forest.
Effulgent Rama, the lord of the world, had to renounce all desires and undergo this calamity of living in the forest on my account.
The verse underscores dharma as self-sacrifice and truth-bound duty: Rāma accepts forest life, while Bharata accepts moral responsibility for the chain of events.
Bharata laments that Rāma—fit to rule—now lives as a renunciate in the forest, and he attributes the suffering to himself.
Rāma’s renunciation and Bharata’s accountability—together portraying ideal conduct: one bears hardship for dharma, the other refuses to hide from blame.