Hari Om.
Let us begin the one hundred and twenty fourth sarga of the yuddha kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
The victorious vAnara team was felicitated by king vibhIshaNa upon the order of rAma. The victor rAma refused any felicitations or even customary and traditional ablutions. He would have none of those before his brother bharata who has been keeping a strict vow for the last fourteen years. King vibhIshaNa summoned the pushpaka vimAna and upon rAma’s invite, the key vAnaras as well as vibhIshaNa with his ministers boarded the vimAna. The aerial car took off into the skies. As it flew above, rAma recounted the entire story until they saw ayOdhyA. As kishkindhA appeared down, sItA requested a stop over to invite and take along with them rumA, tArA and other vAnara women as well to ayOdhyA. Reaching the climax of such an epic, mahaRshi vAlmIki chooses to cover the events in reverse chronological order to remind the reader of what all has taken place until now. The glorious city of ayOdhyA had been spotted and the passengers of the vimAna jostled to get a view of it! Onwards…
As the fourteenth year of the exile completed, on the day of panchamI (fifth day after the new or full moon day, in this case after the new moon day of phAlguna month), the elder brother of lakmaNa, rAma reached the hermitage of sage bharadwAja and duly paid his respects to the sage. Having prostrated before him, he inquired of sage bharadwAja if he has heard of the news of welfare of ayOdhyA, if bharata is doing fine and if the mothers are alive. As rAma inquired thus, the delighted sage bharadwAja replied with a smile –
“O rAma, without taking good care of his body, wearing matted hair, bharata is waiting for you. By the grace of your sandals (which bharata crowned on the throne and ruled as rAma’s representative) there is welfare. I was moved by pity earlier when I saw you enter the forest wearing bark clothes along with your wife and subsisting on the forest produce, desirous only of staying true to dharma and ensuring the word of your father given to kaikEyI is honoured. To find you victorious now and surrounded by well-wishers and friends, I am overjoyed.
O rAghava, your expansive travails and triumphs which you experienced at the janasthAna by vanquishing of the demons to protect the Rshis, abduction of this spotless lady of great conduct by rAvaNa, metting mAricha and slaying him, the tryst with kabandha, sojourn to the banks of pampa, befriending sugrIva, vanquishing vAli, the quest of sItA, the exploits of the son of the windgod, the making of the nalasEtU to reach sItA, the siege of the city of lanka by the enterprising vAnaras, the routing of rAvaNa along with his ilk, your rendezvous with the gods receiving their grace in the form of boons are known to me by virtue of my tapas. O best among the wielder of weapons, I am also pleased and offer you boons, you may ask. Enjoy the hospitality here tonight and leave for ayOdhyA tomorrow”.
Obeying the command of the supreme sage and choosing the boon, the prince asked –
“O lord, on the way to ayOdhyA, let the all the varieties of the trees bear juicy fruits even out of turn”.
As the sage bharadwAja nodded and said “so be it”, the trees resembled the trees in the heavens and the fruitless ones bore fruit and the bare trees blossomed. Starting there for a span of three yOjanas, the trees were laden with fruits and were oozing honey. The vAnaras were ecstatic to find those trees full of fruits and consumed thousands of those in great delight and felt as if they had claimed the heavens!
Here we conclude the one hundred and twenty fourth sarga of the yuddha kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
Click on the above link for word by word meaning from IITK website
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Next: 6.125. bharata’s Joy returns…
Previous: 6.123. Rewind, replay and ayOdhyA in sight!
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 
