प्रविश्य तु महारण्यं दण्डकारण्यमात्मवान्।
ददर्श रामो दुर्धर्षस्तापसाश्रममण्डलम्॥
praviśya tu mahāraṇyaṁ daṇḍakāraṇyam ātmavān
dadarśa rāmo durdharṣas tāpasāśrama-maṇḍalam
praviśya tu = upon entering; mahā-araṇyam = an extensive forest; daṇḍakāraṇyam = Daṇḍakāraṇya; ātmavān = the courageous; dadarśa = saw; rāmaḥ = Rāma; durdharṣaḥ = and unconquerable; tāpasa-āśrama-maṇḍalam = an āśrama of ascetics 1.
Upon entering Daṇḍakāraṇya, an extensive forest, the courageous and unconquerable Rāma saw an āśrama of ascetics.
1 Of course, within the bounds of Vedic dharma. Rāma has pointed out in Canto 2 that His father’s instruction was in line with the teachings of saintly authorities. Therefore He was eager to carry it out.
2 In the commentary, this sentence appears prior to the previous sentence. It has been placed here to aid clarity.
3 It was approachable, that is, attractive to Lord Rāma. It was attractive to Him for reasons that would be well delineated in this chapter.
4 Lord Rāma was affectionately inclined towards those ascetics. Rāmāyaṇa-bhāva-dīpa: ātmavān praśasta-cittaḥ.
The Supreme Brahman [Lord Rāmacandra] is the cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe and can be known, understood and realized from the Upaniṣads, the crest-jewel of the Vedas.
The previous canto described in minute detail that (1) He is absolutely free from all forms of ignorance, (2) He is completely filled with eternal bliss, (3) He is the inner controller of all, (4) He shines with abundant spiritual bliss, (5) He is unparalleled in [carrying out and] propagating [Vedic] dharma, and (6) He is filled with an unlimited number of such auspicious transcendental qualities. It was primarily pointed out that saintly persons must carry out the dharma of obeying the instructions of their fathers.1
The author now begins this Canto, Araṇya-kāṇḍa, in order to describe Rāma’s adherence to the special dharma of providing complete protection to saintly persons.2
Tu (literally “however”) indicates that [this forest] was distinct from the forest [that was described] previously. This forest was extensive, that is, it was inaccessible to others. Daṇḍakāraṇya refers to the district that had become a forest by the curse of Śukra; it was the forest of King Daṇḍaka. Rāma was courageous, that is, He wasn’t even slightly frightened while entering the unfathomable, greatly inaccessible [Daṇḍakāraṇya] because He was unconquerable, that is, He could not be vanquished by violent [attacks] and so on.
In the next seven and a half verses, the author describes the āśrama [of the ascetics living there] to point out that it was approachable [to Lord Rāma].3
GLOSS. Ātmavān indicates that Lord Rāma was in a very good mood.4