सोयं ब्राह्मणभूयिष्ठो वानप्रस्थगणो महान्।
त्वन्नाथोऽनाथवद्राम राक्षसैर्बाध्यते भृशम्॥
so ’yaṁ brāhmaṇa-bhūyiṣṭho vānaprastha-gaṇo mahān
tvan-nātho ’nāthavad rāma rākṣasair bādhyate bhṛśam
saḥ = the; ayam = here; brāhmaṇa-bhūyiṣṭhaḥ = is comprised mostly of brāhmaṇas; vānaprastha-gaṇaḥ = assembly of vānaprasthas; mahān = great; tvat-nāthaḥ = [though] they have You as their protector; anāthavat = as if they have none to protect them; rāma = Rāma; rākṣasaiḥ = by the rākṣasas; bādhyate = they are oppressed; bhṛśam = extremely.
Rāma, the great assembly of vānaprasthas here is comprised mostly of brāhmaṇas. [Though] they have You as their protector, they are extremely oppressed by the rākṣasas as if they have none to protect them.
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: yadvā brāhmaṇāḥ brahmavidaḥ. “tad adhīte tad veda” ity aṇ.
Brāhmaṇa-bhūyiṣṭhaḥ indicates that the vānaprasthas were mostly brāhmaṇas. This is because kṣatriyas and vaiśyas can [also] become vānaprasthas [and some of the vānaprasthas in the āśrama were kṣatriyas and vaiśyas]. Most the vānaprasthas were [also] knowers of Vedic scriptures.1