Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 20: Kausalyā’s Lamentation
Text 2.20.2
कृत्येष्वचोदितः पित्रा सर्वस्यान्तःपुरस्य च।
गतिर्यः शरणं चापि स रामोऽद्य प्रवत्स्वति॥
kṛtyeṣv acoditaḥ pitrā sarvasyāntaḥ-purasya ca
gatir yaḥ śaraṇaṁ cāpi sa rāmo ’dya pravatsyati
kṛtyeṣu = the needful; acoditaḥ = [even] without being instructed; pitrā = by His father; sarvasya = for everyone; antaḥ-purasya ca = in the inner quarters; gatiḥ = did; yaḥ = who; śaraṇam = who is our protector 1; ca api = and; saḥ rāmaḥ = Rāma; adya = today; pravatsyati = will leave.
Rāma, who did the needful for everyone in the inner quarters [even] without being instructed by His father and who is our protector, will leave today!
1 The glossator refers to the Ṛg Vedic statement (10.125.7): pitaram asya mūrdhan.
Gatiḥ indicates that Lord Rāma was approachable [by everyone in the inner quarters] to get things done.
GLOSS. It is pointed out here that this Rāma is not a human being, but [Lord Viṣṇu,] the killer of the dānavas. Pitrā refers to Lord Brahmā who is also referred to in the Veda as the father of the universe, though he is also referred to as the grandfather of the universe.1 Lord Rāma resides in everyone’s body and is independently capable of doing anything. He does not need to be instructed by Lord Brahmā on what He has to do. The fact that Rāma is going away indicates that His [independent] desires are the deciding factors.