Canto 2: Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa ()Chapter 1: Daśaratha Desires to Appoint Rāma as the Crown PrinceText 2.1.6
Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 1: Daśaratha Desires to Appoint Rāma as the Crown Prince
Text 2.1.6

तेषामपि महातेजा रामो रतिकरः पितुः।
स्वयंभूरिव भूतानां बभूव गुणवत्तरः॥

teṣām api mahā-tejā rāmo ratikaraḥ pituḥ
svayaṁbhūr iva bhūtānāṁ babhūva guṇavattaraḥ

teṣām api = among the four sons of Daśaratha; mahā-tejāḥ = of great prowess; rāmaḥ = Rāma; ratikaraḥ = He loved very much; pituḥ = His father; svayam-bhūḥ = the self-born Brahmā; iva = like; bhūtānām = among the creatures; babhūva guṇavattaraḥ = had more auspicious qualities.

Like the self-born Brahmā among the creatures, Rāma of great prowess had more auspicious qualities among the four sons of Daśaratha.1 He loved His father very much.


1. Meaning He manifested more auspicious qualities in His form of Rāma than in  His forms of Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata and Śatrughna. 

Even though he loved his four sons, he had a special love for Rāma because of His additional auspicious qualities. Mahā-tejāḥ indicates that Rāma possessed unbounded prowess to manifest such auspicious qualities. He loved His father very much, that is, abundantly.

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