Canto 2: Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa ()Chapter 59: Sumantra Describes the Agony of all Creatures in the CountryText 2.59.23
Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 59: Sumantra Describes the Agony of all Creatures in the Country
Text 2.59.23
न सुहृद्भिर्न चामात्यैर्मन्त्रयित्वा च नैगमैः।
मयायमर्थः संमोहात्स्त्रीहेतोः सहसा कृतः॥
na suhṛdbhir na cāmātyair mantrayitvā ca naigamaiḥ
mayāyam arthaḥ sammohāt strī-hetoḥ sahasā kṛtaḥ
na = without; suhṛdbhiḥ na ca = well-wishers; āmātyaiḥ = ministers; mantrayitvā ca = consulting; naigamaiḥ = or residents of the city 8; mayā = I had; ayam arthaḥ = to a conclusion; sammohāt strī-hetoḥ = and because I was bewildered by a woman; sahasā = rashly; kṛtaḥ = come.
And because I was bewildered by a woman, I had rashly come to a conclusion without consulting well-wishers, ministers or residents of the city.
The conclusion that Daśaratha had come to was to banish Rāma. He didn’t come to that conclusion by consulting his well-wishers. He didn’t come to that conclusion by consulting his ministers. He didn’t come to that conclusion by consulting the residents of the city. On the other hand, he rashly came to that conclusion because he was bewildered by a woman.
GLOSS. [The glossator reads sanaigamaiḥ instead of ca naigamaiḥ] indicating that [in this regard] Daśaratha did not consult his ministers and experts on Vedic knowledge.1 He did not consider them to be his well-wishers.2
NOTE. Daśaratha did not submissively hear from his well-wishers who were all saintly devotees of Rāma, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The importance of such submissive association with the Lord’s devotees is noted by Prabhupāda thus:
For those who are sinful, atheistic, foolish and deceitful, it is very difficult to transcend the duality of desire and hate. Only those who have passed their lives in practicing the regulative principles of religion, who have acted piously, and who have conquered sinful reactions can accept devotional service and gradually rise to the pure knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then, gradually, they can meditate in trance on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the process of being situated on the spiritual platform. This elevation is possible in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the association of pure devotees, for in the association of great devotees one can be delivered from delusion. (Bhagavad-gītā 7.28 purport)