राजर्षीणां हि लोकेऽस्मिन्नत्यर्थं मृगया वने।
काले वृतां तां मनुजैर्धन्विनामभिकाङ्क्षिताम्॥
नात्यर्थमभिकाङ्क्षामि मृगयां सरयूवने।
रतिर्ह्योषातुला लोके राजर्षिगणसम्मता॥
rāja-rṣīṇāṁ hi loke ’smin raty-arthaṁ mṛgayā vane
kāle vṛtāṁ tāṁ manujair dhanvinām abhikāṅkṣitām
nātyartham abhikāṅkṣāmi mṛgayāṁ sarayū-vane
ratir hy eṣātulā loke rāja-rṣi-gaṇa-sammatā
rāja-ṛṣīṇām = of the saintly kings; hi = because; loke = world; asmin = in this; rati-artham = as a sport; mṛgayā = hunting; vane = is [allowed] in the forests; kāle = on appropriate days; vṛtām = is accepted; tām = such hunting; manujaiḥ = by men of saintly conduct; dhanvinām = by archers; abhikāṅkṣitām = and is very much hankered for; na atyartham abhikāṅkṣāmi = I don’t hanker too much; mṛgayām = to hunt; sarayū-vane = in the forest by the Sarayū; ratiḥ hi = sport; eṣā = this; atulā = incomparable; loke = in the world; rāja-ṛṣi-gaṇa-sammatā = is approved by saintly kings.
I don’t hanker too much to hunt in the forest by the Sarayū because hunting is [allowed] in the forests of the saintly kings as a sport in this world. Such hunting is accepted on appropriate days by men of saintly conduct and is very much hankered for by archers. This incomparable sport in the world is approved by saintly kings.
1 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.25.25) notes—vanaṁ tu sāttviko vāsaḥ: “Residence in the forest is in the mode of goodness.” Therefore, saints since time immemorial have resoted to forests to engage in austerities for spiritual perfection. However, these very forests are also infested with violent creatures who can hurt these saints in their nonviolent spiritual pursuits. For this reason the kṣatriyas are duty-bound to protect the saints from these violent animals by killing them. It is clear to a mature and transcendental onlooker that this is quite distinct from unnecessary violence to the animals.
2 Therefore, it is a good challenge for them. Such hunting is accepted as training by kṣatriyas for war.
One might object that hunting has been criticized:
strī-dyūta-mṛgayā-madya-vāk-pāruṣyogra-daṇḍatāḥ
arthasya dūṣaṇaṁ ceti rājñāṁ vyasana-saptakam
“[Illicit association with] women, gambling, hunting, intoxication, harshness of speech, excessive punishment and wastage of money are seven dangers for a king.”
So, how is it that Rāmacandra hankers to hunt?
[The answer is that] occasional hunting to neutralize violent animals is not criticized.1 The hunting that has been criticized above refers to continuous hunting of animals.
Just as gambling has been recommended during the Rājasūya, saintly kings in this world sometimes engage in hunting in the forest as a sport 1. The appropriate days for such hunting are the days of śrāddha and so on. It is very much hankered for by archers since their targets are moving.2 Lord Rāma’s statement “I don’t hanker too much to hunt” means “I have some desire to hunt.”
NOTE. It is the duty of a kṣatriya to accept training for challenging and killing when needed, and hunting is a way of providing them that training. Prabhupāda explains:
Out of the four orders of social administration, the second order, for the matter of good administration, is called kṣatriya. Kṣat means hurt. One who gives protection from harm is called kṣatriya (trāyate—to give protection). The kṣatriyas are trained for killing in the forest. A kṣatriya would go into the forest and challenge a tiger face to face and fight with the tiger with his sword... The kṣatriyas are specially trained for challenging and killing because religious violence is sometimes a necessary factor. Therefore, kṣatriyas are never meant for accepting directly the order of sannyāsa, or renunciation. Nonviolence in politics may be a diplomacy, but it is never a factor or principle. (Bhagavad-gītā 2.31 purport)