वेदवेदाङ्गतत्त्वज्ञो धनुर्वेदे च निष्ठितः।
सर्वशास्त्रार्थतत्त्वज्ञः स्मृतिमान्प्रतिभानवान्॥
veda-vedāṅga-tattvajño dhanurvede ca niṣṭhitaḥ
sarva-śāstrārtha-tattvajñaḥ smṛtimān pratibhānavān
veda-vedāṅga-tattvajñaḥ = He knows the truths of the Veda and the Vedāṅgas; dhanurvede = in the Dhanurveda; ca = and other Upavedas; niṣṭhitaḥ = He is skilled; sarva-śāstra-artha-tattvajñaḥ = He knows the truths taught in all the other Vedic scriptures; smṛtimān = He has an unfailing memory; pratibhānavān = and brilliance.
He knows the truths of the Veda and the Vedāṅgas. He is skilled in the Dhanurveda and other Upavedas. He knows the truths taught in all the other Vedic scriptures. He has an unfailing memory and brilliance.
1 The eighteen divisions of Vedic knowledge are the four Vedas, the six Vedāṅgas, the four Upavedas and the four Upāṅgas.
2 The Nāṭya-śāstra is not just about dancing and dramas. The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute’s G.K. Bhat notes in his compilation Bharata-nāṭya-mañjarī, “Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra is a very big work and deals with music, dance, some aspects of poetics and rhetorics, prosody, the literary theory of drama and all the aspects of histrionics connected with the stage representation of drama.”
3 The Nīti-śāstra or Artha-śāstra of Cāṇakya is itself based on earlier Artha-śāstras which are now almost lost. The pragmatic commentator has chosen to refer to Cāṇakya’s work for this purpose, rather than refer to ancient texts on the same.
Śrīla Nārada Muni then points out that Lord Rāma is well-experienced in the eighteen divisions of Vedic knowledge.1
Veda refers to that [literature] from which one can know the nature of dharma and so on. It is divided into Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva. Vedāṅga refer to six literatures ancillary to the Vedas:
śikṣā kalpo vyākaraṇa niruktaṁ jyotiṣāṁ gatiḥ
chandasāṁ vicitiś ceti ṣaḍ aṅgāni pracakṣate
“The six Vedāṅgas are said to be Śikṣā, Kalpa, Vyākaraṇa, Nirukta, Jyotiṣa and Chandas.”
Śikṣā provides instruction on how to articulate the letters beginning with a as found in the Veda in terms of the place of articulation,
organ of articulation, effort in articulation and accents. Kalpa provides instructions on the sequence of tasks involved in conducting Vedic sacrifice. Vyākaraṇa teaches which words are bona fide [to use]. Nirukta definitively states [how words have been formed] through insertion, deletion and replacement of letters. Jyotiṣa scriptures establish the appropriate times for performing scripturally prescribed duties and so on. Chandas refers to scriptures that teach rules for composition of poetry.
Dhanurveda is a scripture that teaches one how to grasp a bow
with one’s fist, modes of shooting, pulling the string, releasing the string, usage of divine weapons and so on.
Ca indicates that Lord Rāma is also skilled in the other Upavedas. Because a kṣatriya is primarily focused on Dhanurveda, here it is said that Śrī Rāma is skilled in Dhanurveda.
The four Upavedas are:
āyurvedo dhanurvedo vedo gāndharva eva ca
artha-śāstram iti proktam upaveda-catuṣṭayam
“The four Upavedas are Āyurveda, Dhanurveda, Gāndharvaveda and Artha-śāstra.”
Āyurveda refers to Vāgbhaṭṭa’s texts [and their source texts] prescribing medicines and so on to prevent [and cure] bodily disorders that obstruct the performance of Vedic dharma. Gāndharvaveda refers to Bharata Muni’s Nāṭya-śāstra that is useful for singing Sāma Vedic hymns.2 Artha-śāstra refers to the Nīti-śāstra presented by Cāṇakya and others that teach methods of attaining artha (material prosperity) that is useful for carrying out prescribed duties.3
Lord Rāmacandra also knows the truths taught in all the “other Vedic scriptures.” This is a reference to the Vedic Upāṅgas or subsidiary scriptures which are enlisted below:
dharma-śāstraṁ purāṇaṁ ca mīmāṁsānvīkṣikī tathā
catvāry etāny upāṅgāni śāstrajñāḥ sampracakṣate
“Knowers of śāstra declare (1) Dharma-śāstras, (2) Purāṇas, (3) Mīmāṁsās and (4) Nyāya to be the four Vedic Upāṅgas.”
The Dharma-śāstras clarify the teachings of the karma-kāṇḍa portion of the four Vedas while the Purāṇas clarify the teachings of the Upaniṣads in the four Vedas. Mīmāṁsā and Nyāya are useful for understanding all Vedic scriptures. Lord Rāmacandra knows the truths of these Upāṅgas. [Indeed,] He knows the truths of these eighteen divisions of Vedic knowledge.
Smṛtimān indicates that He does not even slightly forget what He has come to know. He possesses brilliance, the ability to quickly manifest knowledge of what He has heard and what He has not heard.
Śrī Nārada Muni then points out that Lord Rāma is always an object of worship for the saints.