Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 8: Śrī Rāma Departs From Sutīkṣṇa’s Āśrama
Text 3.8.7
अभ्यनुज्ञातुमिच्छामस्सहैभिर्मुनिपुङ्गवैः।
धर्मनित्यैस्तपोदान्तैर्विशिखैरिव पावकैः॥
abhyanujñātum icchāmaḥ sahaibhir muni-puṅgavaiḥ
dharma-nityais tapo-dāntair viśikhair iva pāvakaiḥ
abhyanujñātum = to take your permission [to depart]; icchāmaḥ = we wish; saha = with; ebhiḥ = these; muni-puṅgavaiḥ = eminent sages; dharma-nityaiḥ = who are always engaged in dharma; tapaḥ-dāntaiḥ = and austerity that has brought their senses under control; viśikhaiḥ = without flames 2; iva = and who resemble; pāvakaiḥ = fires.
“We wish to take your permission [to depart] with these eminent sages who are always engaged in dharma and austerity that has brought their senses under control and who resemble fires without flames.
The sages have been described here in order to point out that they were worthy of being resided with. They are compared to fires without flames because their glories were hidden.
GLOSS. Pāvakaiḥ indicates that these sages resemble fires because of their purity and so on.
NOTE. Austerities of the mind are required to bring the senses under control. These austerities are noted in the Bhagavad-gītā (17.16) as follows:
manaḥ-prasādaḥ saumyatvaṁ maunam ātma-vinigrahaḥ
bhāva-saṁśuddhir ity etat tapo mānasam ucyate
“And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind.”