читать дальшеIn Valmiki, Lakshman accompanies the horse. No battle takes place.
In Padma Puran, Shatrughan accompanies the horse, not as ruler of Mathura, but as prince of Ayodhya, and is accompanied here by Subahu and Yutaketu (the name of his other son here, don't remember it exactly, Valmiki had that son as Shatrughatee). During this trip, the war with Lavanasura takes place which is fought by both Shatrughan and his sons vs Lavana and his. Ultimately, Lavana and his sons are all killed, Shatrughan installs his sons Subahu and the other as the ruler of Mathura and Vidisha, and continues travelling with the horse, until he is accosted by Luv and Kush.
In Bhavabhuti, Chandraketu accompanies the horse, the manner that Vibs described.
Frankly, I believe Valmiki - Kush & Luv weren't involved in any battles.
And I think Bharat establishes the kingdoms for his sons after the AY. And so does Lakshman for his sons. I think throughout except Shatrughan, the other three brothers are together. And Ram sent for Shatrughan from Mathura when he decided to merge in the Sarayu, meaning B&L were with him. Correct me if I am wrong.
As per Valmiki, you are partly correct. Lakshman is done in by the combination of Ka'al and Durvasha, and after Rama, in lieu of executing him, disowns him, he goes to the Sarayu and in a meditative trance passes away, and Indra carries his body back to Vaikuntha. Rama, despite disowning Lakshman, is distraught at his demise and announces that he's stepping down, and invites Bharat to take over. Bharat declines, and instead suggests that Kush be given Uttar Kosala and Luv Dakshin Kosala. That is hastily done, and the 2 are quickly sent away to Kushavati and Shravasti.
After this, a message is sent to Shatrughan with the details, and the info that Rama is stepping down. Shatrughan hastily installs Subahu at Mathura and Shatrughatee in Vidisha, and returns to Ayodhya to join Rama and Bharat. The rest is history.
And Vibs - does the KR have Uttar kand as well or is it only till the Pattabhishekam?
By KR, if you mean Kamban, I read that he openly said that the UttarRamayan breaks his heart, and therefore, he was not including it in the narration. At least, that's what the intro of the Sagar Uttarkand 20 years ago had it.
And truly the cartoon Sita does not merge with the character of real Sita. But then, even if the praja had sought an apology from Sita without her going thro any ordeal, I doubt if she would have accepted to be their queen. The main reason for the praja was that they did not accept the result when the test was not conducted in front of their eyes. If she had gone thro another agnipariksha in front of avadh praja, maybe they would accept her. But again, if Ayodhya accepts, there maybe rumours elsewhere. How many times would she have to prove herself? People did not realise that a proof is a proof, be it once or many times. But Sita had realised this, and the moment she was asked to prove the second time, she PROVED it...period!
Your guess is as good as mine, but it would boil down to the question of whether Sita wanted Rama more than she didn't want to be queen of Ayodhya. I tend to think that if the prajas, for whatever reason, had raised no more questions (say they believed the sung version of Valmiki from her kids, or say the Bhavabhuti version is right and they saw her relieve Rama) and Rama had invited her back, she'd have accepted it, as it would have given her back her Rama. I don't believe she liked leaving for Rasootal, but her choices were pretty much forced on her.