Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 17: Rāma Glorified by His well-wishers
Text 2.17.12
एताश्चान्याश्च सुहृदामुदासीनः कथाः शुभाः।
आत्मसम्पूजनीः शृण्वन्ययौ रामो महापथम्॥
etāś cānyāś ca suhṛdām udāsīnaḥ kathāḥ śubhāḥ
ātma-sampūjanīḥ śṛṇvan yayau rāmo mahā-patham
etāḥ ca = these; anyāḥ = other; ca = and; suhṛdām = of His well-wishers; udāsīnaḥ = was indifferent [to them]; kathāḥ = talks; śubhāḥ = auspicious; ātma-sampūjanīḥ = glorifying Him; śṛṇvan = [despite] hearing; yayau = and continued to proceed; rāmaḥ = Rāma; mahā-patham = on the grand road.
[Despite] hearing these and other auspicious talks of His well-wishers glorifying Him, Rāma was indifferent [to them] and continued to proceed on the grand road.
Rāma was not affected by hearing glorification about Him. His mind was not delighted to hear such praises of Him. The grand road is the royal road.
GLOSS. The Lord’s indifference indicates that this glorification of Him is nothing for Him who is glorified by Lakṣmī herself.
Ātma-sampūjanīḥ (“glorifying Him”) hints that even the words of blessings by His well-wishers upon Him were [offerings of] service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Ātma-sampūjanīḥ can also indicate that by such talks, the talkers themselves were glorified. By glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one is Himself glorified as stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.9.11:
naivātmanaḥ prabhur ayaṁ nija-lābha-pūrṇo
mānaṁ janād aviduṣaḥ karuṇo vṛṇīte
yad yaj jano bhagavate vidadhīta mānaṁ
tac cātmane prati-mukhasya yathā mukha-śrīḥ
“The Supreme Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is always fully satisfied in Himself. Therefore when something is offered to Him, the offering, by the Lord’s mercy, is for the benefit of the devotee, for the Lord does not need service from anyone. To give an example, if one’s face is decorated, the reflection of one’s face in a mirror is also seen to be decorated.”
NOTE. Lord Rāma’s indifference is a lesson for us on how to be tulya-nindā-stutiḥ, “equipoised in honor and dishonor,” an essential quality of a genuine Vaiṣṇava as noted in Bhagavad-gītā (12.19).
Regarding the above verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam quoted in the gloss, Śrīla Prabhupāda has remarked:
In bhakti-yoga it is recommended that a devotee follow nine principles: śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam/ arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam. This service of glorifying the Lord by hearing, chanting and so on is not, of course, meant for the benefit of the Lord; this devotional service is recommended for the benefit of the devotee. The Lord is always glorious, whether the devotee glorifies Him or not, but if the devotee engages in glorifying the Lord, the devotee himself automatically becomes glorious. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam. By glorifying the Lord constantly, the living entity becomes purified in the core of his heart, and thus he can understand that he does not belong to the material world but is a spirit soul whose actual activity is to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that he may become free from the material clutches. Thus the blazing fire of material existence is immediately extinguished (bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam). A foolish person is amazed that Kṛṣṇa orders, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: “Abandon all varieties of religious activities and just surrender unto Me.” Some foolish scholars even say that this is too much to demand. But this demand is not for the benefit of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; rather, it is for the benefit of human society. If human beings individually and collectively surrender everything to the Supreme Personality of Godhead in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all of human society will benefit. One who does not dedicate everything to the Supreme Lord is described in this verse as aviduṣa, a rascal. In Bhagavad-gītā (7.15), the Lord Himself speaks in the same way:
na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ
māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ
“Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.” Because of ignorance and misfortune, the atheists and the narādhamas, the lowest of men, do not surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore although the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, is full in Himself, He appears in different yugas to demand the surrender of the conditioned souls so that they will benefit by becoming free from the material clutches. In conclusion, the more we engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and render service unto the Lord, the more we benefit. Kṛṣṇa does not need service from any of us.