तस्यानुचरितं राजन्नृषिभिस्तत्त्वदर्शिभिः ।
श्रुतं हि वर्णितं भूरि त्वया सीतापतेर्मुहुः ॥३॥

tasyÄnucaritaá¹ rÄjann
ṛṣibhis tattva-darśibhiḥ
śrutaṠhi varṇitaṠbhūri
tvayÄ sÄ«tÄ-pater muhuḥ

 tasya - of Him, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord RÄmacandra and His brothers; anucaritam - transcendental activities; rÄjan - O King (MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it); á¹›á¹£ibhiḥ - by great sages or saintly persons; tattva-darÅ›ibhiḥ - by persons who know the Absolute Truth; Å›rutam - have all been heard; hi - indeed; varṇitam - as they have been so nicely described; bhÅ«ri - many; tvayÄ - by you; sÄ«tÄ-pateḥ - of Lord RÄmacandra, the husband of mother SÄ«tÄ; muhuḥ - more than often.


Text

O King ParÄ«ká¹£it, the transcendental activities of Lord RÄmacandra have been described by great saintly persons who have seen the truth. Because you have heard again and again about Lord RÄmacandra, the husband of mother SÄ«tÄ, I shall describe these activities only in brief. Please listen.

Purport

Modern RÄká¹£asas, posing as educationally advanced merely because they have doctorates, have tried to prove that Lord RÄmacandra is not the Supreme Personality of Godhead but an ordinary person. But those who are learned and spiritually advanced will never accept such notions; they will accept the descriptions of Lord RÄmacandra and His activities only as presented by tattva-darśīs, those who know the Absolute Truth. In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (4.34) the Supreme Personality of Godhead advises:

tad viddhi praṇipÄtena
 paripraÅ›nena sevayÄ
upadeká¹£yanti te jñÄnaá¹
 jñÄninas tattva-darÅ›inaḥ

“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.†Unless one is tattva-darśī, in complete knowledge of the Absolute Truth, one cannot describe the activities of the Personality of Godhead. Therefore although there are many so-called RÄmÄyaṇas, or histories of Lord RÄmacandra’s activities, some of them are not actually authoritative. Sometimes Lord RÄmacandra’s activities are described in terms of one’s own imaginations, speculations or material sentiments. But the characteristics of Lord RÄmacandra should not be handled as something imaginary. While describing the history of Lord RÄmacandra, Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« told MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it, “You have already heard about the activities of Lord RÄmacandra.†Apparently, therefore, five thousand years ago there were many RÄmÄyaṇas, or histories of Lord RÄmacandra’s activities, and there are many still. But we must select only those books written by tattva-darśīs (jñÄninas tattva-darÅ›inaḥ), not the books of so-called scholars who claim knowledge only on the basis of a doctorate. This is a warning by Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«. Ṛṣibhis tattva-darÅ›ibhiḥ. Although the RÄmÄyaṇa composed by VÄlmÄ«ki is a huge literature, the same activities are summarized here by Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« in a few verses.