तीर्थपुण्याश्रमश्रेणीर्द्रष्टुमुत्कण्ठितं मनः । रामस्याऽभूद् भृशं तत्र कदाचिद्गुणशालिनः ॥ २० ॥
tīrthapuṇyāśramaśrēṇīrdraṣṭumutkaṇṭhitaṁ manaḥ | rāmasyā’bhūd bhṛśaṁ tatra kadācidguṇaśālinaḥ || 20 ||
Translation
Rāma, rich in virtues, once came to long deeply to see the many holy places and sacred hermitages.
Word by word
- tīrtha
- the holy places
- puṇya
- sacred
- āśrama
- hermitages
- śrēṇīr
- (śreṇīḥ) the many
- draṣṭum
- to see
- utkaṇṭhitaṁ
- longed
- manaḥ
- the mind
- rāmasya
- of Rāma
- abhūd
- (abhūt) came to
- bhṛśaṁ
- deeply
- tatra
- then
- kadācid
- (kadācit) once
- guṇa
- in virtues
- śālinaḥ
- rich
Meaning
The commentary asks why a work on the Self should tell of pilgrimage, and later of hunting. Its answer: the duties fitting one's station purify the mind and make it ready for knowledge, as the previous sarga said when it put the stories before the teaching (1.2.3). Rāma's journey is that preparation, and it is also where his dispassion begins.