Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 5: Rāma Meets Sage Śarabhaṅga
Text 3.5.29
अहं ज्ञात्वा नरव्याघ्र वर्तमानमदूरतः।
ब्रह्मलोकं न गच्छामि त्वामदृष्ट्वा प्रियातिथिम्॥
ahaṁ jñātvā nara-vyāghra vartamānam adūrataḥ
brahma-lokaṁ na gacchāmi tvām adṛṣṭvā priyātithim
aham = I; jñātvā = having known; nara-vyāghra = O prince; vartamānam = to be; adūrataḥ = not far [from me]; brahma-lokam = to Brahmaloka; na gacchāmi = will not go; tvām = You; adṛṣṭvā = without beholding; priya-atithim = You, my beloved guest.
O prince, having known You to be not far [from me], I will not go to Brahmaloka without beholding You, my beloved guest.
Rāma was not far [from Śarabhaṅga]—He was constantly present in his mind. The sage knew this through his yogic perception. He didn’t want to give up the happiness of seeing Rāma, his beloved guest and go to Brahmaloka which is described in this verse:
ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino ’rjuna
mām upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate
“From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again.” (Bhagavad-gītā 8.16)
Then which world was Śarabhaṅga going to and using which means? He states that from the next verse.
GLOSS. Priyātithim indicates that meeting Lord Rāma, unlike [going] to Brahmaloka, was the means to attaining a desirable and non-temporary [goal].