Canto 2: Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa ()Chapter 6: The Residents of Kosala Prepare to Celebrate Rāma’s CoronationText 2.6.1
Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 6: The Residents of Kosala Prepare to Celebrate Rāma’s Coronation
Text 2.6.1
गते पुरोहिते रामः स्नातो नियतमानसः।
सह पत्न्या विशालाक्ष्या नारायणमुपागमत्॥
gate purohite rāmaḥ snāto niyata-mānasaḥ
saha patnyā viśālākṣyā nārāyaṇam upāgamat
gate = when had departed; purohite = the priest; rāmaḥ = Rāma; snātaḥ = bathed; niyata-mānasaḥ = with a fixed mind; saha = accompanied by; patnyā = His wife Sītā-devī; viśāla-akṣyā = wide-eyed; nārāyaṇam = Lord Nārāyaṇa; upāgamat = then He approached;
When the priest had departed, Rāma bathed. Then, accompanied by His wide-eyed wife Sītā-devī, with a fixed mind, He approached Lord Nārāyaṇa.
1 “Fixing one’s mind” means fixing one’s mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s names, forms, qualities or pastimes.
This chapter describes the preparation for Rāma’s coronation.
Bathing is [prescribed in the scriptures] for purifying one’s body while fixing one’s mind is for purifying one’s mind.1 The joy experience of seeing Lord Nārāyaṇa is like an ocean and in order to cross over this ocean, Śrī Rāma took the help of His wife Sītā-devī just as one crosses the ocean with a boat and because, according to the scriptures, initiation into a Vedic ritual requires that one be accompanied by one’s wife.
Lord Nārāyaṇa here is Śrī Raṅganātha, the hero of Śrīraṅgam, for it is stated [elsewhere] that Lord Rāma gave this Deity to Vibhīṣaṇa [who placed Him at Śrīraṅgam]. Sītā-devī was so captivated by the beauty of this Deity that she watched Him with wide and unblinking eyes—therefore she is described here as wide-eyed.
1. “Fixing one’s mind” means fixing one’s mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s names, forms, qualities or pastimes.