तं तु पूर्वोदितं वृद्धं द्वारस्था राजसम्मतम्।
न शेकुरभिसंरोद्धं राज्ञः प्रियचिकीर्षवः॥
taṁ tu pūrvoditaṁ vṛddhaṁ dvārasthā rāja-sammatam
na śekur abhisaṁroddhuṁ rājñaḥ priya-cikīrṣavaḥ
tam tu = Sumantra; pūrva-uditam = and had been previously authorized [to meet the king at any time]; vṛddham = Sumantra was an old man; dvārasthāḥ = the gatekeepers; rāja-sammatam = approved by the king; na = not; śekuḥ = could; abhisaṁroddhum = prevent [from entering the king’s inner quarters]; rājñaḥ = the king; priya-cikīrṣavaḥ = who wished to please.
The gatekeepers who wished to please the king could not prevent Sumantra [from entering the king’s inner quarters]. Sumantra was an old man approved by the king and had been previously authorized [to meet the king at any time].
1 Sumantra was granted this privilege not just because he was old but because he was a confidant of the king. We have already noticed in Canto 1 that he had come to the king’s inner quarters to relate the history of the prophecy of Sanat-kumāra.
The king had previously instructed [his gatekeepers there] that Sumantrā should not be prevented [from seeing him] at any time.1