Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 1: Lord Rāma Meets the Sages of Daṇḍakāraṇya
Text 3.1.19
ते वयं भवता रक्ष्या भवद्विषयवासिनः।
नगरस्थो वनस्थो वा त्वं नो राजा जनेश्वरः॥
te vayaṁ bhavatā rakṣyā bhavad-viṣayavāsinaḥ
nagarastho vanastho vā tvaṁ no rājā janeśvaraḥ
te vayam = we; bhavatā = by You; rakṣyāḥ = are to be protected; bhavad-viṣayavāsinaḥ = for we reside in Your territory; nagarasthaḥ = You reside in the city; vanasthaḥ = or in the forest; vā = whether; tvam = You are; naḥ = our; rājā = king; jana-īśvaraḥ = because You are the Lord of all living beings.
We are to be protected by You for we reside in Your territory. You are our king whether You reside in the city or in the forest because You are the Lord of all living beings.
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhāva-dīpa: yad vā bhavad-viṣaye vāsinaḥ tvad-rūpa-viṣaya-dhyāna-yuktāḥ.
Because they had been in distress [in His absence], the sages were to be protected by Rāma who has promised that He would protect those in distress. They resided in His territory and so they were to be protected by Him.
They anticipated that Rāmacandra might say, “Alright. We will protect you when we reside in a protected place.” And so they state, “You are our king whether You reside in the city or in the forest.” Śrī Rāma is the self-perfect possessor of all potencies and the absolute maintainer of all. “You are our king” means “You are our protector.”
But aren’t these sages capable of protecting themselves with the power of their austerities? Anticipating this, the sages speak the next verse.
GLOSS. Bhavad-viṣaya-vāsinaḥ also indicates that these sages were in meditation on Lord Rāma’s form.1