In this state of anxiety was Bharat found by the heralds on their arrival. As soon as he had heard his guru’s commands he offered up a prayer to Ganesh and started.
They went with the speed of the wind, urging on their horses over rivers, rocks and trackless forests. So great was his distress of mind that nothing pleased him; he thought to himself, “O that I had wings to fly!” A moment seemed like a year. In this manner Bharat drew near to the city. On entering he was met by evil omens. Gruesome noises sounded in uncanny places, asses and jackals uttered presages of ill, which pierced him to the heart as he listened. Even the lakes and rivers, groves and gardens, seemed forlorn; while the city struck him as more melancholy still. Birds, deer, horses and elephants were painful to look at, as though the loss of Rama were some dreadful disease that had destroyed them. The citizens were as downcast as if they had all lost everything they had in the world.
They went with the speed of the wind, urging on their horses over rivers, rocks and trackless forests. So great was his distress of mind that nothing pleased him; he thought to himself, “O that I had wings to fly!” A moment seemed like a year. In this manner Bharat drew near to the city. On entering he was met by evil omens. Gruesome noises sounded in uncanny places, asses and jackals uttered presages of ill, which pierced him to the heart as he listened. Even the lakes and rivers, groves and gardens, seemed forlorn; while the city struck him as more melancholy still. Birds, deer, horses and elephants were painful to look at, as though the loss of Rama were some dreadful disease that had destroyed them. The citizens were as downcast as if they had all lost everything they had in the world.