Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 1: Daśaratha Desires to Appoint Rāma as the Crown Prince
Text 2.1.12

शीलवृद्धैर्ज्ञानवृद्धैर्वयोवृद्धैश्च सज्जनैः।
कथयन्नास्त वै नित्यमस्त्रयोग्यान्तरेष्वपि॥

śīla-vṛddhair jñāna-vṛddhair vayo-vṛddhaiś ca saj-janaiḥ
kathayann āsta vai nityam astra-yogyāntareṣv api

śīla-vṛddhaiḥ = elder by conduct; jñāna-vṛddhaiḥ = elder by spiritual knowledge; vayaḥ-vṛddhaiḥ = elder by age; ca = and; sat-janaiḥ = with saintly persons; kathayan = in conversation; āsta vai = He was; nityam = always; astra-yogya-antareṣu = between His archery practice sessions; api = even.

He was always in conversation with saintly persons elder by conduct, elder by spiritual knowledge and elder by age, even between His archery practice sessions.

That Lord Rāma associated with saints, which enhances one’s auspicious qualities, is pointed out here.

Śīla-vṛddhaiḥ indicates that Rāmacandra conversed with those endowed with proper conduct. He brought out finer points of proper conduct in their association. Jñāna [in this context] refers to knowledge pertaining to attainment of liberation, as pointed out in Amara-kośa: mokṣe dhīr jñānam. Jñāna-vṛddhaiḥ indicates that Lord Śrī Rāma conversed with spiritually mature saints focused on attaining liberation from material existence. In other words, He revealed the confidential mysteries of the teachings of the Upaniṣads while conversing with them. Vayo-vṛddhaiḥ indicates that He conversed with saintly persons elder by age about specific points of traditional knowledge received in disciplic succession.

Saj-janaiḥ indicates that He conversed with all kinds of saintly persons with no consideration of whether they were from higher or lower places, families and so on.1 That He was talking with them indicates that He conveyed specific points of teaching to them.2 And this was happening nityam or always, not just occasionally. Ca indicates that He also associated with saintly persons elder by spiritual knowledge, conduct and age, saintly persons elder by conduct and spiritual knowledge, saintly persons elder by spiritual knowledge and age, and saintly persons elder by conduct and age. Astra-yogyāntareṣv api indicates that Lord Rāma’s association with saintly persons was not an activity He engaged in at a particular time on a daily basis, like the daily agnihotra fire sacrifice; he conversed with saints even between His archery practice sessions. Obviously, He conversed with saintly persons at all other times. He didn’t spare even one moment without associating with saintly persons.

NOTE. Great devotees of the Lord are saints who want to be with Him and please Him. Similarly, the Supreme Lord also wants to be with them and please them.

sādhavo hṛdayaṁ mahyaṁ sādhūnāṁ hṛdayaṁ tv aham
mad-anyat te na jānanti nāhaṁ tebhyo manāg api

“The pure devotee is always within the core of My heart, and I am always in the heart of the pure devotee. My devotees do not know anything else but Me, and I do not know anyone else but them.” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.4.68)


1. One should learn about spiritual life from those who are factually saintly without considering the place from which they came and the family in which they have taken birth.

 

2. Not that He received knowledge from them. It should also be noted in this regard that śīla-vṛddhaiḥ, jñāna-vṛddhaiḥ, vayaḥ-vṛddhaiḥ and saj-janaiḥ in the text are in the grammatical third case which indicates that these words refer to non-primary participants in the action expressed by the finite verb in the sentence.