November 7,2012.Day 6. Srimad Valmiki Ramayan - The First Epic Poem Of India. (Continued)

Book I : Bala Kanda - Book Of Youthful Majesties : Chapter 1(Continued)

एतत् इच्छामि अहम् श्रोतुम् परम् कौतूहलम् हि मे |
महर्षे त्वम् समर्थोऽसि ज्ञातुम् एवम् विधम् नरम् || १-१-५

5. etat aham shrotum icChaami = all this, I, to listen [from you,] wish to; me kautuuhalam param hi = my, inquisitiveness; immense, indeed;mahaa R^irSe= Oh! Great Sage - Narada; tvam = you; evam vidham naram = [about] this, kind of, man; j~nnaatum = to know of [him]; samarthaH asi= competent [mastermind,] you are.

"All this I wish to listen from you, oh! Great Sage, as you are a mastermind to know this kind of man, and indeed my inquisitiveness is immense..." Thus Valmiki enquired with Narada. [1-1-5]

Valmiki wanted to know about that man - a man with godly qualities. Valmiki's thinking aloud, about the qualities of his prospective hero of this epic, is the very opening questions put to an Omniscient Sage Narada. Both the sages know of Rama and his deeds. Even then Valmiki asks Narada, "who is that man with godly qualities?' If Narada tells that Rama is Vishnu Himself, there is nothing left for Valmiki to compose his epic, because there are numerous mythologies, puraaNa-s, that have already adored God Vishnu. If Narada tells that Rama is so-and-so king, again Valmiki need not attempt to author about some king, however great that king might be. As such, Valmiki wanted to know about a human being with godly attributes, because many acts of Rama, like killing Vali, testing Seetha's chastity, deserting her at the end etc. are both conducive and contradictory puzzles.

The attributes of the hero of Ramayana, as required by Valmiki, are 16; sixteen in number.1 - guNavaan 2 - viryavaan 3 - dharmaj~naH 4 - kR^itaj~naH 5 - satya vaakyaH 6 - dhR^iDha vrataH 7 - caaritra vaan 8 - sarva bhuuteShu hitaH 9 - vidvaan 10 - samarthaH - 11 - priyadarshana 12 - aatmavaan 13 - jita krodhaH 14 - dyutimaan 15 - anasuuyakaH 16 - bibhyatidevaaH These sixteen attributes are attributed to the sixteen phases of the Full Moon, and Valmiki is about to picture Rama to be as pleasant as a full-moon.