Iti iva (“like these”) indicate that she also spoke several other harsh words to Rāma. Rāma was not distressed [as evidenced by] His lack of any external transformations [due to pain], such as the discoloring of His face. But Daśaratha was greatly distressed when he noticed that Rāma was not affected at all.

GLOSS. Rāma is referred to as Daśaratha’s putra or son [in the word putra-vyasanābhitaptaḥ (“was afflicted by the sorrows due to his son”)]. Rāma was not a mere putra in the sense of one who saves his father from the hell named put.¹ He was a putra in the sense that He could save His father from material existence [itself].

NOTE. Lord Rāmacandra did not experience any distress about this demand of Queen Kaikeyī because He was fixed in demonstrating yukta-vairāgya or appropriate renunciation. This will become clear later in the Rāmāyaṇa.

While one is engaged in one’s dhārmika duties, one must maintain internal detachment and yet mix those duties with service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is called yukta-vairāgya. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has explained it thus:

anāsaktasya viṣayān yathārham upayuñjataḥ
nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate

“Persistence in appropriately using the sense objects in service to Kṛṣṇa by one detached from them is called proper renunciation.” (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.255)

It must be noted that yukta-vairāgya is not merely engaging the senses with the sense objects with an overcoating of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, for Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has enlisted three terms and conditions in this verse that define what yukta-vairāgya is and what it isn’t:

(1) Anāsaktasya viṣayān (“by one detached from the sense objects”) indicates that the practitioner of yukta-vairāgya should be factually detached from and independent of the items that are being used, not that he is attached to or dependent on those items. In a lecture, Śrīla Prabhupāda notes:

Our policy is that we are using this microphone. It is not that if there is no microphone, we shall stop our speaking or preaching work. No. We have no attraction for this microphone. But when there is microphone, we take  advantage [of it] for spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the formula given by Rūpa Gosvāmī.²

(2) Yathārham (“appropriately”) indicates that only those items that deserve to be accepted, not other items, should be accepted by the practitioner of yukta-vairāgya. In a letter to a disciple, Śrīla Prabhupāda has clarified:

Yukta Vairagya means that we should simply accept the bare necessities of our material part of life, and try to save time for spiritual advancement.³

(3) Kṛṣṇa-sambandhe indicates that only those items that are required to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa, and not other items, can be used in Kṛṣṇa’s service. In another lecture, Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies this point thus:

[The] Madana-mohana temple was constructed by a big merchant. He approached Sanātana Gosvāmī: ‘Sir, what can I do for you? I want to serve you.’ So Sanātana Gosvāmī said, ‘I am living underneath the tree, and my Madana-mohana is hanging. So if you can, you can construct a temple for Madana-mohana.’ Similarly, Mahārāja Mansingh approached Rūpa Gosvāmī [to serve him and was instructed to construct a temple for Govindajī]. They never constructed [a] big, big temple for their own living purpose, but [only for] Kṛṣṇa’s purpose. That is the way. For Kṛṣṇa we must have everything very gorgeous and first class, but not for me... Personally we should not possess anything; simply for Kṛṣṇa.⁴

All of the above three terms and conditions need to be fulfilled for the alleged engagement in yukta-vairāgya to be truly yukta-vairāgya.

Furthermore, Śrīla Prabhupāda has connected this verse from Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu to the following verse from Upadeśāmṛta (2):

atyāhāraḥ prayāsaś ca prajalpo niyamāgrahaḥ
jana-saṅgaś ca laulyaṁ ca ṣaḍbhir bhaktir vinaśyati

“One’s devotional service is spoiled when he becomes too entangled in the following six activities: (1) eating more than necessary or collecting more funds than required; (2) over-endeavoring for mundane things that are very difficult to obtain; (3) talking unnecessarily about mundane subject matters; (4) practicing the scriptural rules and regulations only for the sake of following them and not for the sake of spiritual advancement, or rejecting the rules and regulations of the scriptures and working independently or whimsically; (5) associating with worldly-minded persons who are not interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness; and (6) being greedy for mundane achievements.”⁵

Those interested in understanding the factual nature of yukta-vairāgya can read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s illuminating purport to the above verse in his The Nectar of Instruction.

Yukta-vairāgya helps one enter pure sadhana-bhakti. It is the best use of a bad bargain.⁶ But a higher degree of internal detachment and external renunciation develops in a devotee when he attains pure bhāva-bhakti. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī describes this in texts 1.3.30-31 of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu while giving Mahārāja Bharata as an example of such a devotee. King Bharata had given up his beautiful wife, nice children, great friends and an enormous empire just as one gives up stool after evacuating because he was so fond of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Superior to yukta-vairāgya, this form of intense internal detachment and extreme external renunciation is bhāvottha-virakti, renunciation born of bhāva-bhakti. This was superexcellently manifest in the six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana:

[The six Gosvāmīs] conquered over eating, sleeping. Mating, there was no question: they were sannyāsī[s], [in the] renounced order of life. And defense also, there was no question, because they depended on Kṛṣṇa, the most powerful defender. So there was no question of defense. Simply two things, eating and sleeping. And that they also conquered. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau cātyanta-dīnau ca yau.⁷

Śrīla Prabhupāda has also often warned aspirants of pure sādhana-bhakti to refrain from imitating the absolute vairāgya of those on the platform of pure bhāva-bhakti. It is wise (and healthy) for sādhana-bhaktas to engage in yukta-vairāgya:

If you are embarrassed with these four things, āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca [eating, sleeping, mating and defending], then we are not making progress in spiritual life. It should be reduced, just like Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī did—all the Gosvāmīs. They had no business.  But that is very difficult. If one has to imitate the behavior of Rūpa Gosvāmī and all the Gosvāmīs, it is very difficult. Therefore yukta-vairāgya.⁸