He stated thus, “Dear! Two boys have captureed the horse of the Ashwamedha Yajna. Go and bring the horse back to Ayodhya.” Bharata was shocked to hear that the two boys had captured their horse. He said that they could be persuaded only through love. Rama said, “Bharata, now the situation has gone out of control. They have defeated Shatrughna and Lakshmana. Our army has been made to lick dust. Now either of us will have to go there.”
Humbly, Bharata replied, “We have never faced such a defeat or humiliation, O King! This must be the result of Mother Seeta’s curse for the grief she suffered.” Rama asked him, “Don’t you wish to go there, Bharata? If so, I’ll go.”
Bharata was deeply devoted to Rama and could not ever think of disobeying him. So, taking Hanuman and his army with him, he proceeded to Sage Valmiki’s ashrama. Hanuman was very keen to see those boys. Soon they came face to face with the boys. When Bharata saw Luv-Kush, he fell in love with those boys. He ordered his soldiers to capture the boys.
Sage Valmiki had told Luv-Kusha about the prowess of the monkey-army during the recitation of the Ramayana. Seeing the monkey-army approaching, both the brothers felt very happy. They showered arrows upon the monkey-army. The brave monkey warriors who had faced Ravana got upset with the arrows shot by the two brothers.
Hanuman was fascinated having watched the two little warriors. He praised them to the skies. He had no intention of attacking the boys. When Bharata saw that even the monkey-army could not stop the youngsters, he aimed his arrows at the boys. A fierce battle ensued between them. Luv-Kush were engaged in battle with great perfection on two fronts. On the one hand, they were driving away the monkey warriors. And on the other hand, they were parrying all the arrows shot by Bharata. Then Bharata shot a sharp arrow that made Luv fall unconscious. Seeing this Kush was infuriated and shot a divine arrow which made Bharata fall into a swoon.
