Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 57: Sumantra Returns to Ayodhyā
Text 2.57.13

दानयज्ञविवाहेषु समाजेषु महत्सु च।
न द्रक्ष्यामः पुनर्जातु धार्मिकं राममन्तरा॥

dāna-yajña-vivāheṣu samājeṣu mahatsu ca
na drakṣyāmaḥ punar jātu dhārmikaṁ rāmam antarā

dāna-yajña-vivāheṣu = amidst charity, sacrifice and weddings; samājeṣu = social events; mahatsu = grand; ca = and; na drakṣyāmaḥ punaḥ jātu = will we never again see; dhārmikam = the dhārmika; rāmam = Rāma; antarā = as the centerpiece of attention.

“Will we never again see the dhārmika Rāma as the centerpiece of attention amidst charity, sacrifice and weddings and grand social events?1

When anyone gives in charity, Rāma would personally go and be amidst them. Why? To ensure that the charity is given at the right time and place and to the right recipient.

He would attend sacrificial performances. Why? To ensure that it is done with wealth that has been earned righteously, to remove doubts about the execution of the sacrifice, to remind them of performances that the performers might have forgotten and so on.1

He would attend weddings. Why? To intermingle with the parties of the bride and bridegroom, to give items acceptable to the party dissatisfied [with the charity provided] and to ensure that the marital rituals are smoothly conducted.

He would also attend other grand social events like long sacrifices.

He attended all these events because He was dhārmika.

1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: antarā madhye nāyaka-maṇivad vartamānam.

1 The money that is used for sacrifices should have been earned righteously, that is, sinlessly. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has noted in one of his pamphlets on Nāma-haṭṭa preaching that one’s occupation should not contradict the thirty common duties of human beings enlisted in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.11.8-12.