Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 1: Daśaratha Desires to Appoint Rāma as the Crown Prince
Text 2.1.28

वैहारिकाणां शिल्पानां विज्ञातार्थविभागवित्।
आरोहे विनये चैव युक्तो वारणवाजिनाम्॥

vaihārikāṇāṁ śilpānāṁ vijñātārtha-vibhāgavit
ārohe vinaye caiva yukto vāraṇa-vājinām

vaihārikāṇām = recreational; śilpānām = in music, painting and other arts; vijñātā = He was a specialist; artha-vibhāgavit = He knew how to divide His money for expenses; ārohe = of climbing on; vinaye = disciplining; ca eva = and; yuktaḥ = He was capable; vāraṇa-vājinām = elephants and horses.

He was a specialist in music, painting and other recreational arts. He knew how to divide His money for expenses. He was capable of climbing on and disciplining elephants and horses.

Lord Rāma was a specialist in singing, musical instruments, painting and other recreational arts. He knew how to divide His money for expenses as per the scriptural dictum:

dharmāya yaśase ’rthāya ātmane sva-janāya ca
pañcadhā vibhajan vittam ihāmutra ca śobhate

“Therefore one who is in full knowledge should divide his accumulated wealth in five parts — for religion, for reputation, for opulence, for sense gratification and for the maintenance of his family members. Such a person is happy in this world and in the next.”1 (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.19.37)

NOTE. Śrīla Prabhupāda has commented on the Bhāgavatam verse quoted above as follows: “The śāstras enjoin that if one has money one should divide all that he has accumulated into five divisions — one part for religion, one part for reputation, one part for opulence, one part for sense gratification and one part to maintain the members of his family. At the present, however, because people are bereft of all knowledge, they spend all their money for the satisfaction of their family. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī taught us by his own example by using fifty percent of his accumulated wealth for Kṛṣṇa, twenty-five percent for his own self, and twenty-five percent for the members of his family. One’s main purpose should be to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This will include dharma, artha and kāma. However, because one’s family members expect some profit, one should also satisfy them by giving them a portion of one’s accumulated wealth. This is a śāstric injunction.”


1. This translation is by Śrīla Prabhupāda.