Tṛjāṭa

Tṛjāṭa was a poor brāhmaṇa who received dāna (a gift given in charity) from Rāma in Ayodhyā before Rāma left for his forest exile. He appears briefly in the Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa as one of those who received Rāma’s gifts before he left the city. Rāma kept the householder’s dharma of dāna even in the hour of his own great trouble.

In the Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa

Rāma was about to leave Ayodhyā for the forest. He had accepted Kaikeyī’s demands and the fourteen years of exile. Before leaving, he gave away his remaining wealth and goods as dāna to brāhmaṇas and to those in need. This giving was a fitting close to his life in the city, for one who was about to enter the life of the forest.

Tṛjāṭa was a poor brāhmaṇa who came to receive Rāma’s dāna. He is described as pious and ascetic in character. Rāma received him with respect and gave generously. The episode is short, but it shows Rāma’s character. In the hardest moment of his life, Rāma was cast out from the throne, his father was broken and his mother wept. Even then he did not give up his duties as a householder. He gave with the same greatness of heart that marked his kingship. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, the dāna chapters)

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa (the dāna chapters before Rāma’s departure)