न्यस्तदण्डा वयं राजञ्जितक्रोधा जितेन्द्रियाः।
रक्षितव्यास्त्वया शश्वद्गर्भभूतास्तपोधनाः॥
nyasta-daṇḍā vayaṁ rājañ jita-krodhā jitendriyāḥ
rakṣitavyās tvayā śaśvad garbha-bhūtās tapo-dhanāḥ
nyasta-daṇḍāḥ = have given up punishments; vayam = we; rājan = O king; jita-krodhāḥ = we have conquered our anger; jita-indriyāḥ = we have conquered our senses; rakṣitavyāḥ = we are to be protected; tvayā = by You; śaśvat = at all times; garbha-bhūtāḥ = like a child in a mother’s womb; tapaḥ-dhanāḥ = austerity is our wealth.
O king, we have given up punishing [others]. We have conquered our anger. We have conquered our senses. Austerity is our wealth. Like a child in a mother’s womb, we are to be protected by You at all times!
1 Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s first verse of Upadeśāmṛta enlists six urges that are meant to be brought under control and one of them is the urge of anger. The rest are the urges of the senses and the mind, which is also considered an internal sense. This is preliminary to any meaningful attempt at spiritual realization. Readers can read through Prabhupāda’s elaborate purport on that verse and be benefitted.
2 Technical note: garbha-bhūtāḥ yathā mātur garbhe prāpto jīvo mātrā rakṣyate tadvad rakṣyā ity arthaḥ.
3 Before barbaric hedonism, which is almost all-pervasive in today’s world, captured the imagination of men and women, no lady professing allegiance to Vedic dharma wanted to kill any of her children, especially the one who needs her support the most—the child within her womb.
The sages had given up punishing [others] through curses because they had conquered their anger out of fear that their austerities would be destroyed [otherwise].1 They conquered their anger because they had conquered their senses; by conquest of the senses, one does not become entangled with lust and so on.
The sages point out here that though they were capable, it was inappropriate for them to protect themselves since [such an activity] would oppose their very constitutional nature. They were to be protected by Rāma. He alone could naturally shelter them who were naturally fit to be sheltered by Him. This is indicated by the word garbha-bhūtāḥ (“like a child in a mother’s womb”).2 Nevertheless, protection would be unwarranted without appropriate endeavor (sādhana). Therefore they state [that they were] tapo-dhanāḥ: “Austerity is our wealth.”
The austerity referred to here is a synonym of “surrender” or “dedication” because the Śruti states:
tasmān nyāsam eṣāṁ tapasām atiriktam āhuḥ
“Authorities state that surrender [unto the Supreme Lord] is superior to all forms of austerity.”
In other words, surrender [unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead] was the only wealth of these sages [and] they prayed to Him to protect them on the pretext of their surrender [unto Him].
“Protection” in this regard only refers to granting these sages liberation because it will be described [later in this Canto] that the residents of Śarabhaṅga’s āśrama were protected from Khara and other [rākṣasas]. The sages [described] here were exclusively focused on [attaining] liberation.
NOTE. Garbha-bhūtāḥ (“like a child in a mother’s womb”) indicates that these spiritually enlightened sages seeking everlasting pure devotional service to the Lord beseeched Him to protect them just as a child in a mother’s womb is protected by his mother.3
As already noted in the commentary to Rāmāyaṇa 1.30.2,
Protection involves (1) attainment of desired [persons, things or events], and (2) prevention of undesired [persons, things or events].
So this example of the child in the womb indicates that the sages wanted the Lord to provide for and protect them the way a child in a mother’s womb is provided for and protected by his mother.
The sages wanted Rāmacandra to grant them liberation. What is the nature of the liberation that they wanted? The liberation desired by those fully surrendered unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is described in the following prayer by Śrīla Rāmānujācārya:
tavānubhūti-sambhūta-prīti-kārita-dāsatām
dehi me kṛpayā nātha na jāne gatim anyathā
sarvāvasthocitāśeṣa-śeṣataika-ratis tava
bhaveyaṁ puṇḍarīkākṣa tvam evaivaṁ kuruṣva mām
“O Lord, mercifully give me the state of loving servitude to You that is caused by directly experiencing You. I do not know of any other way [to attain this]. O lotus-eyed Lord, I want to become exclusively attached to rendering unlimited services [to You] as appropriate to all situations. Please make me thus.” (Śrīraṅga-gadya)