Canto 1 - Boyhood
Bāla-kāṇḍa
Chapter 1: Contents of the Rāmāyaṇa Summarized
Text 1.1.88
प्रहृष्टमुदितो लोकस्तुष्टः पुष्टः सुधार्मिकः।
निरामयो ह्यरोगश्च दुर्भिक्षभयवर्जितः॥
prahṛṣṭa-mudito lokas tuṣṭaḥ puṣṭaḥ sudhārmikaḥ
nirāmayo hy arogaś ca durbhikṣa-bhaya-varjitaḥ
prahṛṣṭa-muditaḥ = became exceptionally delighted and happy; lokaḥ = the people; tuṣṭaḥ = they became satisfied; puṣṭaḥ = nourished; sudhārmikaḥ = very devoted to dharma; nirāmayaḥ hi = free from bodily diseases; arogaḥ ca = emotional calamities; durbhikṣa-bhaya-varjitaḥ = fear of famine.
The people became exceptionally delighted and happy. They became satisfied, nourished, very devoted to dharma, free from bodily diseases, emotional calamities and fear of famine.
Vālmīki now shows the abundant advantages gained by the people due to Rāma’s coronation as the king. He wants to point out that the happiness they experienced by seeing Rāma’s coronation cannot be described.
The people became exceptionally delighted—their hairs stood on end—and they were happy in their hearts too.
They became satisfied because they were happy to have attained everything desirable, that is, they had attained what they had hankered for [so long]:
icchāmo hi mahā-bāhuṁ raghu-vīraṁ mahā-balam
gajena mahatā yāntaṁ rāmaṁ chatrāvṛtānanam
“We want to see Rāma, whose arms are mighty, who is the hero of the Raghus, who possesses great strength, and whose face is shaped like an umbrella, proceeding on a great elephant.” (Rāmāyaṇa 2.2.22)
In Rāma’s absence, [the people of Kosala] had been emaciated:
viṣaye te mahārāja rāma-vyasana-karśitāḥ
api vṛkṣāḥ parimlānāḥ sa-puṣpāṅkura-korakāḥ
“Mahārāja, in your kingdom, even the trees, with their flowers, sprouts and buds have withered, distressed over Rāma’s calamity.” (Rāmāyaṇa 2.57.8)
But now they had given up that condition and were nourished by His presence.
Sudhārmikaḥ indicates that they nicely carried out their prescribed duties, that is, they carried out their prescribed duties in devotional service to Lord Rāma, [as they had done earlier in His presence]:
striyo vṛddhās taruṇyaś ca sāyaṁ prātaḥ samāhitāḥ
sarvān devān namasyanti rāmasyārthe yaśasvinaḥ
“[Even] women, the elderly and the youth, in the early morning and evening, with attention offer obeisances unto all the devas for the sake of Rāma [and thus have become] famous.” (Rāmāyaṇa 2.2.53)
This is the perfection of personal service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead due to their joyful love for Him.
The fact that the people experienced freedom from bodily diseases, emotional calamities and fear of famine indicates that when they had been without Sītā and Rāma, they experienced bodily diseases and so on. But now [that Sītā and Rāma are back], they no longer experienced bodily diseases and so on. This indicates that the people did not experience any obstacles to their services [unto Sītā Rāma]. On the other hand, they did not even fear the coming forth of famine for they were prosperous with all ingredients requires to serve Lord Rāma.