The Return to Ayodhya

Vibhishana asked Ram to remain in Lanka for a few days, but the fourteen years of exile had ended and Bharat was waiting. Ram said that he must return to Ayodhya. Vibhishana offered the Pushpaka flying palace. Ram invited Sugriva, Hanuman, Jambavant, Angada, Vibhishana, and the other companions to travel with them so that all could share the joy for which they had worked.

The Pushpaka rose. Ram showed Sita the places below: Lanka's battlefield, Nala's causeway across the ocean, the shore where the army had waited, Kishkindha, Pampa, Shabari's hermitage, Janasthana, Panchavati, and Chitrakuta. Each place carried the memory of a companion, loss, decision, or hope. Tara and women from the vanara households also joined the returning company.

They reached the hermitage of the sage Bharadvaja. He reported that Ayodhya was safe and that Bharat had governed the kingdom as something held in trust for Ram. Ram sent Hanuman ahead. Hanuman was to bring news to Guha and carefully observe Bharat's face. If Bharat wished to keep the kingdom, Ram would honour his decision. Fourteen years of rule could change a person's wishes; Ram wanted truth rather than assumption.

At Nandigrama, Bharat lived in clothes like an ascetic. Ram's khadau rested upon the throne, and Bharat carried out responsibility in his name. Hanuman told him of the exile, the search for Sita, the friendships, the victory in Lanka, and the approaching Pushpaka. Bharat fainted with joy, then rose and embraced Hanuman. No gift could equal the news he had brought, Bharat said.

The news was already racing toward the city ahead of them — Ayodhya would not have to wait much longer to learn that its king was coming home.