Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 57: Sumantra Returns to Ayodhyā
Text 2.57.15
वातायनगतानां च स्त्रीणामन्वन्तरापणम्।
रामशोकाभितप्तानां शुश्राव परिदेवनम्॥
vātāyana-gatānāṁ ca strīṇām anvantarāpaṇam|
rāma-śokābhitaptānāṁ śuśrāva paridevanam
vātāyana-gatānām ca = by the windows; strīṇām = of women; anvantara-āpaṇam = between the shops on either side [of the road]; rāma-śoka-abhitaptānām = grieving in distress about Rāma; śuśrāva = he heard; paridevanam = the lamentation.
He heard the lamentation of women by the windows between the shops on either side [of the road]. They grieved in distress for Rāma.
NOTE. The lamenting residents of Ayodhyā were exalted devotees of Lord Rāma, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, Lord Rāma had reciprocated with them with extreme kindness. He describes such loving exchanges thus in Bhagavad-gītā (9.29):
samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu na me dveṣyo ’sti na priyaḥ
ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā mayi te teṣu cāpy aham
“I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.”