अथ चापि महाप्राज्ञ ब्राह्मणानां मया श्रुतम्।
पुरा पितृगृहे सत्यं वस्तव्यं किल मे वने॥
atha cāpi mahā-prājña brāhmaṇānāṁ mayā śrutam
purā pitṛ-gṛhe satyaṁ vastavyaṁ kila me vane
atha ca api = moreover; mahā-prājña = O greatly wise one; brāhmaṇānām = from brāhmaṇas learned in astrology; mayā śrutam purā = I have heard; pitṛ-gṛhe = in my father’s home; satyam = really; vastavyam kila me vane = that I would have to live in a forest.
Moreover, O greatly wise one, in my father’s home I have heard from brāhmaṇas learned in astrology that I would really have to live in a forest.1
1]. Some people have the tendency to try to fulfill any prophecy made by an astrologer, good or bad. But from the concluding verses of this chapter, we will find that Lord Rāma still tells Vaidehī to reside in Ayodhyā. Lakṣmaṇa, while spelling out the thoughts of some people in Ayodhyā in a previous chapter, had accused Rāmacandra of subscribing to hopelessly useless fatalism, but Lord Rāma is not a fatalist at all. He clearly understands what dharma is in truth—scriptural act-based morality, not non-scriptural act-based morality or any other form of morality such as consequence-based morality or intention-based morality. Therefore, at the end of this chapter, as a non-fatalist, Rāmacandra does not buy into Mother Sītā’s fatalistic argument here. The spiritual reality behind this conversation is that Sītā-devī, out of her natural prema-bhakti to her most beloved husband, just wants to be with Him somehow or other to serve Him. But this conversation has other aspects which are relevant to us, the conditioned souls of this world, and which will therefore be highlighted in the explanations.
Those were words of truth [spoken by] the brāhmaṇas.
GLOSS. [She intends to say:] “I have truly heard from the vipras, ‘Ramā, for your protection, you should stay at your father’s house before your marriage and then stay with your husband in the forest.’”