Superior bhakti
Superior bhakti Lakshmana serves Rama in the forest. Yet it is Bharata’s bhakti that is considered superior to Lakshmana’s. Lakshmana’s bhakti was seshatva, while Bharata’s was paratantriya, said Navalpakkam Vasudevachariar, in a discourse. Seshatva is the quality of dedicating oneself to the Lord and serving Him. But paratantriya is the attitude of thinking of oneself as belonging to the Lord. The very existence of such a bhakta is to carry out the Lord’s will. Bharata was one such bhakta. He never questioned Rama.Usually an example is given to show the difference between seshatva and paratantriya. Suppose the Lord asks a person whose bhakti falls under the classification of seshatva to jump into a fire, he will ask, “If I am not here, who will serve You?” But if the same order were given to one whose bhakti can be classified as paratantriya, then he will obey, without questioning the Lord.
In his Paduka Sahasram, Vedanta Desika praises Bharata as the one who first proclaimed the greatness of Raghava paduka (Rama’s sandals). There are many conversations that Bharata has with various characters in the Ramayana.
Through every conversation that Bharata has, Valmiki shows us the importance of the dharma sastras. He has nothing but harsh words for Kaikeyi. He assures Kausalya that he had no part in Kaikeyi’s decisions. Vasistha insists that Bharata ascend the throne, but Bharata refuses. When he arrives at the bank of the Ganga, he has a conversation with Guha. Looking for Rama, he arrives at sage Bharadwaja’s ashram, and talks to the rishi, who tells him where he can find Rama.