इदं व्यसनमालोक्य राज्ञश्च मतिविभ्रमम्।
काम एवार्थधर्माभ्यां गरीयानिति मे मतिः॥
idaṁ vyasanam ālokya rājñaś ca mati-vibhramam
kāma evārtha-dharmābhyāṁ garīyān iti me matiḥ
idam = this; vyasanam = calamity of Mine; ālokya = observing; rājñaḥ = the king’s; ca = and; mati-vibhramam = bewilderment of mind; kāmaḥ eva = kāma; artha-dharmābhyām = than artha and dharma; garīyān = is more powerful; iti me matiḥ = it appears to Me that.
Observing this calamity of Mine and the king’s bewilderment of mind, it appears to Me that kāma is more powerful than artha and dharma.
1 Putting a dhārmika son in unnecessary calamity will certainly decrease one’s piety or dharma. But the fact that Daśaratha banished Rāma indicates that he wasn’t serious about losing his pious credits (dharma).
2 Having a good kingdom under one’s control is certainly a prosperity and who can rule better than Rāma? Banishing Rāmacandra will not result in a good kingdom under Daśaratha’s control because Rāma was most attentively fulfilling King Daśaratha’s desires and no one else could be like Him. Daśaratha certainly knew this but the fact that he banished Rāma indicates that he wasn’t serious about losing his prosperity (artha).
Śrī Rāma’s calamity indicates that dharma was not most important [to Daśaratha].1 Daśaratha’s bewilderment of mind, that is, his lack of hankering for [artha over kāma] indicates that artha was not most important [to him too] and that he was only interested in kāma, sensual pleasures.2