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Dharma Katha · Season 4: The Road to Diwali · Episode 132

Rama is one short flight from home. He can see the city. He has been gone fourteen years. And he stops. Not because he is tired. Not because the Pushpaka cannot go on. He stops because there is a question he is afraid to ask, and he needs to know the answer before he lands. The question is this: does my brother still want me to come back?

Missed the previous story? Listen to Episode 126 first.

Source note. Label: scripture. Rama's arrival at Bharadvaja's ashram when the fourteenth year was complete, on the fifth lunar day, his questions about Ayodhya, the sage's boon of fruit-bearing trees, Rama sending Hanuman to Guha and to Bharata with instructions to read Bharata's face, and Rama's words that Bharata may keep the kingdom if he wishes, Hanuman's sight of Bharata at Nandigrama, Bharata's joy and his offer of gifts, the proverb on joy coming even after a hundred years, and Hanuman's retelling of the whole story, are in the Valmiki Ramayana, Yuddha Kanda, in popular vulgate editions around sargas one hundred and twenty-four to one hundred and twenty-six; the critical edition numbers differ. The verse is quoted as commonly cited; a Sanskrit reader should confirm it. Some details are abridged. The reflections are my own.

Note: this episode is narrated with an AI voice and the script was written with AI assistance. Sanskrit verses are checked against published editions; corrections are welcome.