आर्या च धर्मनिरता धर्मज्ञा धर्मदर्शिनी।
अरोगा चापि कौसल्या माता रामस्य धीमतः॥
āryā ca dharma-niratā dharmajñā dharmadarśinī
arogā cāpi kausalyā mātā rāmasya dhīmataḥ
āryā ca = she is my seniormost mother; dharma-niratā = she executes the activities of dharma; dharmajñā = she knows dharma; dharmadarśinī = has a dhārmika outlook; arogā = is she in good health; ca api = and; kausalyā = Kausalyā is; mātā = the mother; rāmasya = Rāma; dhīmataḥ = of the intelligent.
Kausalyā is the mother of the intelligent Rāma. She is my seniormost mother. She executes the activities of dharma. She knows dharma and has a dhārmika outlook. Is she in good health?
1 This does not mean that she was absolutely blind to others’ faults. It simply means that she did not focus on the defects of others. In this Canto, we have already come across her several critical remarks on Kaikeyī. Sees only the good in others means not unnecessarily discussing about others’ defects. In an essay titled Vaiṣṇava-nindā, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura points out that when others’ faults are discussed for the welfare of the speaker or the hearer or others, it is good; discussing others’ defects in a manner detrimental to oneself or the hearer or others is detrimental, however. A complete translation of this essay from Bengali to English with relevant quotes from Prabhupāda’s writings has been published by Rūpa Raghunātha Vāṇī Publications.
Queen Kausalyā was āryā, that is, worshipable as the seniormost mother of Bharata. She was dhārmika in outlook which [in this context] indicates that she only saw the good in others. She was not a faultfinder.1 Dhīmataḥ (“intelligent”) indicates that Rāma was the most exalted [among all the sons of Daśaratha].