Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 94: Rāma Describes the Excellence of Citrakūṭa to Sītā
Text 2.94.19
इदमेवामृतं प्राहू राज्ञि राजर्षयः परे।
वनवासं भवार्थाय प्रेत्य मे प्रपितामहाः॥
idam evāmṛtaṁ prāhū rājñi rāja-rṣayaḥ pare
vana-vāsaṁ bhavārthāya pretya me prapitāmahāḥ
idam eva amṛtam = nectar; prāhuḥ = have declared that; rājñi = for a king; rāja-ṛṣayaḥ pare = and others; vana-vāsam = residence in the forest is; bhava-arthāya = for the purpose of attaining liberation from material existence; pretya = after death; me = My; prapitāmahāḥ = great-grandfathers.
My great-grandfathers and others have declared that residence in the forest is nectar for a king for the purpose of attaining liberation from material existence after death.1
Lord Rāma points out here that residing in the forest was not merely for [material] enjoyment; it is also the means for [a superior destination in] one’s next life.
Residence in the forest is nectar, that is, as enjoyable as nectar for a king according to Rāma’s great-grandfathers, that is, His predecessors and others, that is, other saintly kings, for after being freed from one’s current body, one can attain liberation from material existence just as a lamp [destroys] darkness and just as the smoke [drives away] mosquitoes.1
Such residence in the forest should be while following the regulations suitable to a vānaprastha [according to the Vedic scriptures]. Then it is nectar, that is, the means to attain liberation from material existence 4.
Bhavārthāya pretyā also indicate that the saintly kings of the Raghu dynasty have declared that the vānaprastha-āśrama is a means to attain the body of a deva and other [celestials] after death, that is, to attain Svarga. It should be understood that they have also declared it to be a means to attain apavarga, full liberation from material existence.
NOTE. A vānaprastha’s retirement to the forest is a means to avoid mixing with materialistic people and avoiding the association of nondevotees is extremely important:
Naturally, when one is adapted to the spiritual way of life, he will not want to mix with materialistic men. That would go against his grain. One may test himself by seeing how far he is inclined to live in a solitary place, without unwanted association. Naturally a devotee has no taste for unnecessary sporting or cinema-going or enjoying some social function, because he understands that these are simply a waste of time. (Bhagavad-gītā 13.8-12 purport)