Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 61: Kausalyā Condemns Daśaratha in Extreme Distress
Text 2.61.1
वनं गते धर्मपरे रामे रमयतां वरे।
कौसल्या रुदती स्वार्ता भर्तारमिदमब्रवीत्॥
vanaṁ gate dharma-pare rāme ramayatāṁ vare
kausalyā rudatī svārtā bhartāram idam abravīt
vanam = to the forest; gate = now that He had gone; dharma-pare = He was intent on following dharma; rāme = Rāma; ramayatām = of those who please others; vare = was the best; kausalyā = Kausalyā; rudatī = crying; svārtā = became even more sorrowful; bhartāram = to her husband; idam = the following; abravīt = she spoke.
Rāma was the best of those who please others. He was intent on following dharma. Now that He had gone to the forest, Kausalyā became even more sorrowful. Crying, she spoke the following to her husband.
NOTE. Rāma is the best of those who please others because He is the source of transcendental joy that is far superior to any kind of material pleasure. Prabhupāda explains this in his purport to Bhagavad-gītā 5.22 thus:
Material sense pleasures are due to the contact of the material senses, which are all temporary because the body itself is temporary. A liberated soul is not interested in anything which is temporary. Knowing well the joys of transcendental pleasures, how can a liberated soul agree to enjoy false pleasure? In the Padma Purāṇa it is said:
ramante yogino ’nante satyānande cid-ātmani
iti rāma-padenāsau paraṁ brahmābhidhīyate
“The mystics derive unlimited transcendental pleasures from the Absolute Truth, and therefore the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, is also known as Rāma.”