Bharata

In The Ramayana, Bharata bowed before Rama and asked for the wooden sandals he wore in the forest. Rama slipped them from his feet and gave them to his brother. Bharata then made a strict promise. For fourteen years he would live outside the city in bark cloth, with matted hair, roots and fruit for food, and the ground for his bed. He would offer the kingdom to the sandals. If Rama failed to return after the fourteen years, Bharata said he would enter the flames. Rama agreed that he would return, then embraced Bharata and Shatrughna before saying farewell to the people and elders of Ayodhya.

Bharata also said that he would rule Ayodhya as Rama's regent until Rama returned. He renounced what his mother had secured for him. Rama's sandals were placed on Bharata's head before he left the forest. Bharata returned without claiming the palace for himself. He dressed in the rough clothes of a religious ascetic and lived at Nandigrama outside Ayodhya. From there, he administered the kingdom in Rama's name and kept the sandals with him during the years of waiting. He continued the work of government while keeping the promise that Rama would return when the fourteen years were complete.