Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 4: Daśaratha’s Anxiety About Coronating Rāma
Text 2.4.12
राम वृद्धोऽस्मि दीर्घायुर्भुक्ता भोगा मयेप्सिताः।
अन्नवद्भिः क्रतुशतैस्तथेष्टं भूरिदक्षिणैः॥
rāma vṛddho ’smi dīrghāyur bhuktā bhogā mayepsitāḥ
annavadbhiḥ kratu-śatais tatheṣṭaṁ bhūri-dakṣiṇaiḥ
rāma = Rāma; vṛddhaḥ = old; asmi = I am; dīrgha-āyuḥ = with a long life; bhuktāḥ = have enjoyed; bhogāḥ = whatever to enjoy; mayā = I; īpsitāḥ = I wanted; annavadbhiḥ = with distribution of food grains; kratu-śataiḥ = hundreds of sacrifices; tathā = also; iṣṭam = I have conducted; bhūri-dakṣiṇaiḥ = and abundant gifts.
Rāma, I am old with a long life. I have enjoyed whatever I wanted to enjoy. I have also conducted hundreds of sacrifices with distribution of food grains and abundant gifts.
[Vṛddhaḥ can also mean “mature,” but] Daśaratha did not intend to say that he was mature by spiritual realization. [He just wanted to say that] he was old with a long life. He notes that he had conducted sacrifices with distribution of food grains and abundant gifts, since performance of sacrifices without them has been criticized:
vidhi-hīnam asṛṣṭānnaṁ mantra-hīnam adakṣiṇam
śraddhā-virahitaṁ yajñaṁ tāmasaṁ paricakṣate
“Any sacrifice performed without regard for the directions of scripture, without distribution of prasādam [spiritual food], without chanting of Vedic hymns and remunerations to the priests, and without faith is considered to be in the mode of ignorance.” (Bhagavad-gītā 17.13)