Verse Text
sarvatra karuṇākhyasya rasasyaivopapādanāt |
bhaved rāmāyaṇādīnām anyathā duḥkha-hetutā ||126||
Translation
If karuṇa-rasa did not give rise to happiness, then Rāmāyaṇa would be a cause of grief for the bhāvaka-bhaktas, since that and other works reveal karuṇa-rasa throughout.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Here the author’s opinion is stated by supposing the opposite condition. Because of dealing with (upapādanāt) karuṇa-rasa in many places of each volume of the work (sarvatra), it would be a cause of distress for the aspiring devotees, bhāvaka-bhaktas.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
For example, the subject matter of the Rāmāyaṇa is sometimes considered pitiable and distressing to the heart, but actually that is not the fact. The Rāmāyaṇa narrates how Lord Rāma was sent to the forest by His father just when He was going to be enthroned. After Lord Rāma’s departure, Mahārāja Daśaratha, His father, died. In the forest His wife, Sītādevī, was kidnapped by Rāvaṇa, and there was a great war. When Sītādevī was finally delivered from the clutches of Rāvaṇa, Rāvaṇa’s whole family and kingdom, and Rāvaṇa himself, were vanquished. When Sītādevī came home she was tried by fire, and after some days she was again banished to the forest. All of these subjects in the Rāmāyaṇa seem very pitiable, and they may appear very distressing to the reciter, but actually they are not.