धर्मज्ञः सत्यसन्धश्च प्रजानां च हिते रतः।
यशस्वी ज्ञानसम्पन्नः शुचिर्वश्यः समाधिमान्।
प्रजापतिसमः श्रीमान्धाता रिपुनिषूदनः॥
dharmajñaḥ satya-sandhaś ca prajānāṁ ca hite rataḥ
yaśasvī jñāna-sampannaḥ śucir vaśyaḥ samādhimān
prajāpati-samaḥ śrīmān dhātā ripu-niṣūdanaḥ
dharmajñaḥ = He knows His duties; satya-sandhaḥ ca = He is true to His promise; prajānām ca = the living creatures; hite = in benefiting; rataḥ = He is absorbed; yaśasvī = He is famous; jñāna-sampannaḥ = endowed with knowledge; śuciḥ = straightforward; vaśyaḥ = dependent on His devotees; samādhimān = absorbed in the thought of protecting His surrendered devotees; prajāpati-samaḥ = He is equal to the Prajāpati in the matter of protecting the universe; śrīmān = He is inseparable from Śrī, the goddess of fortune; dhātā = He nourishes His devotees; ripu-niṣūdanaḥ = and destroys their enemies.
He knows His duties. He is true to His promise. He is absorbed in benefiting the living creatures. He is famous, endowed with knowledge, straightforward, dependent on His surrendered devotees and absorbed in thought of protecting them. He is equal to the Prajāpati in the matter of protecting the universe. He is inseparable from Śrī, the goddess of fortune. He nourishes His devotees and destroys their obstacles.
He knows His duty of protecting those who have surrendered unto Him. He will say:
mitra-bhāvena saṁprāptaṁ na tyajeyaṁ kathañcana
doṣo yadyapi tasya syāt satām etad agarhitam
“If one has come to me in a friendly spirit, I will never ever abandon him, even if he has some defect. This is honored by the civilized.” (Rāmāyaṇa 6.18.3)
He is true to His promise—sandhā refers to a promise [30].1
apy ahaṁ jīvitaṁ jahyāṁ tvāṁ vā sīte sa-lakṣmaṇām
na hi pratijñāṁ saṁśrutya brāhmaṇebhyo viśeṣataḥ
“O Sītā, I can even give up My life or you and Lakṣmaṇa, but I will never fail to fulfill a promise that I have made, especially to the brāhmaṇas.” (Rāmāyaṇa 3.10.19)
He is primarily famous for protecting those who surrender unto Him. The Śruti states—tasya nāma mahad-yaśaḥ: “His name is famous among the great [souls].” He is endowed with knowledge, that is, He has full knowledge of the constitutional nature and characteristics of everything [31]. Śuciḥ indicates that He is purifying and pure, that is, straightforward.2 In order to protect the universe, He descended [and functioned] on par with Prajāpati [Brahmā]. He is inseparable from Lakṣmī who mediates [between the Lord and His surrendered devotees in the material world aspiring to uninterruptedly serve Him and His associates in the spiritual world].
Śrīla Nārada next enlists qualities that Lord Rāma specifically displayed during His descent.