Rama evoked great affection in the hearts of all those who came into contact with Him. When Rama slept, Lakshmana kept awake and paced up and down, bow in hand. Guha, seeing this, began to doubt Lakshmana’s intentions. He felt Lakshmana was out to harm Rama.
One of Rama’s brothers Bharata was the reason for Rama’s expulsion from His kingdom, and now here was another brother ready with bow and arrow to harm the Lord — so reasoned Guha! He felt that he must keep an eye on Lakshmana!
So Guha, with his bow and quiver full of arrows, shadowed Lakshmana throughout the night, said Bhooma Venkatakrishnan, in a discourse. But this was not all. Guha’s men viewed their own chief with suspicion! They argued that Lakshmana was also a prince of the same royal family as Rama, and stood to gain from Rama’s demise. So Lakshmana could not be trusted. As for Guha, he was known for his hunting skills. How could he be trusted? What if he used his weapons against Rama, instead of protecting Him — this was their line of reasoning.
Lakshmana’s affection for Rama was not surprising, because Rama was his brother. But Guha had only recently met Rama, and yet he was just as anxious about Rama as Lakshmana was. And Guha’s men did not even trust their chief when it came to Rama’s well being. In the Mahabharata, we find that Vidura, whose house Krishna visited, was very concerned that something untoward might happen to Krishna in his house. So, although he had lovingly made arrangements to welcome Krishna, he doubted even his own arrangements! The Lord’s magnetic charm was the reason why everyone who came into contact with Him became so loyal to Him and so concerned about His welfare.
