Text 7]
The Island of Jambūdvipa
233
all living entities, He is specifically manifest to those who are self-realized, and He is especially dear to the hearts of His transcendental devotees. Because Lord Rāmacandra descended to teach human society how dutiful a king should be, He apparently gave up the company of mother Sitā and Lakṣmaṇa. Factually, however, He could not have given them up. One should therefore learn about the activities of Lord Rāmacandra from a self-realized soul. Then one can understand the transcendental activities of the Lord.
TEXT 7
न जन्म नूनं महतो न सौभगं न वाङ् न बुद्धिर्नाकृतिस्तोषहेतुः। तैर्यद्विसृष्टानपि नो वनौकस-
श्वकार सख्ये बत लक्ष्मणाग्रजः ॥ ७ ॥
na janma nūnaṁ mahato na saubhagaṁ na vāṅ na buddhir nākṛtis toṣa-hetuḥ tair yad viṣṛṣṭān api no vanaukasaś cakāra sakhye bata lakṣmaṇāgrajaḥ
na—not; janma—birth in a very polished, aristocratic family; nūnam—indeed; mahataḥ—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; na—nor; saubhagam—great fortune; na—nor; vāk—an elegant man- ner of speaking; na—nor; buddhiḥ—sharpness of intelligence; na— not; ākṛtiḥ—features of the body; toṣa-hetuḥ—the cause of pleasure to the Lord; taiḥ—by all those above-mentioned qualities; yat—because; viṣṛṣṭān—rejected; api—although; naḥ—us; vana-okasaḥ—the inhabi- tants of the forest; cakāra—accepted; sakhye—in friendship; bata— alas; lakṣaṇa-agra-jaḥ—Lord Śrī Rāmacandra, the elder brother of Lakṣmaṇa.
TRANSLATION
One cannot establish a friendship with the Supreme Lord Rāma- candra on the basis of material qualities such as one's birth in an aristocratic family, one's personal beauty, one's eloquence, one's sharp intelligence or one's superior race or nation. None of these