इक्ष्वाकुवंशप्रभवो रामो नाम जनैः श्रुतः।
नियतात्मा महावीर्यो द्युतिमान्धृतिमान्वशी॥
ikṣvāku-vaṁśa-prabhavo rāmo nāma janaiḥ śrutaḥ
niyatātmā mahā-vīryo dyutimān dhṛtimān vaśī
ikṣvāku-vaṁśa-prabhavaḥ = born in the dynasty of Ikṣvāku; rāmaḥ = Rāma; nāma = by the name; janaiḥ = to the people; śrutaḥ = known; niyata-ātmā = He is untransformed; mahā-vīryaḥ = of great strength; dyutimān = splendorous; dhṛtimān = blissful; vaśī = and the controller of all.
Born in the dynasty of Ikṣvāku, known to the people by the name Rāma, He is untransformed, of great strength, splendorous, blissful and the controller of all.
1 This partiality is due to His bhakta-vātsalya, His affection for His pure devotees.
2 This verse also occurs as Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya 9.29, and this translation is Prabhupāda’s. From the purport therein, we learnt that this verse also occurs as the eighth verse of the Śata-nāma-stotra of Lord Rāmacandra found in the Padma Purāṇa.
3 Lord Rāma was not just known by the people, but also understood by the people—as Lord Nārāyaṇa Himself—by dint of His unique, superhuman activities.
He reveals that the qualities of the Absolute Truth described in the Upaniṣads are found in Lord Rāma. Thus, Lord Viṣṇu who has descended as Rāma is the Supreme Truth to be known, understood and realized from the Upaniṣads. This is the purport of the verses beginning from this text to the end of the chapter. Texts 8 to 18 constitute a single Sanskrit sentence.
Ikṣvāku is the eldest son of Vaivasvata Manu. While there were great families such as that of Janaka, why did the Supreme Personality of Godhead appear in Ikṣvāku’s dynasty? The answer is well known from the Purāṇas that recount Ikṣvāku’s history. Ikṣvāku worshipped Lord Hari for a long time and attained the special Deity of Lord Raṅganātha. Therefore, the Lord became partial to him and so descended in his dynasty.1 This is the answer to Śrī Vālmīki’s question, “Who in this world and at this time possesses all auspicious qualities?”
The Supreme Lord is known as Rāma because He delights everyone with His auspicious qualities, as the sages have etymologically derived His name as rāmo ramayatāṁ varaḥ, “Rāma is the best of the delighters.” Everyone finds delight in Him, as stated in the Agastya-saṁhitā:
ramante yogino ’nante satyānande cid-ātmani
iti rāma-padenāsau paraṁ brahmābhidhīyate
“The Supreme Absolute Truth is called Rāma because the transcendentalists take pleasure in the unlimited true pleasure of spiritual existence.”2
He is well known. Indeed, Vālmīki, as a former resident of Citrakūṭa, certainly knew Him. Not only Vālmīki, even ordinary people knew Him. Śrutaḥ indicates that He was both known and understood by them. In other words, Lord Rāma made them understand that He is indeed Lord Nārāyaṇa Himself by performing pastimes such as slaying Tāṭakā and her son, protecting Viśvāmitra’s sacrifice, delivering Ahalyā from her husband’s curse, breaking Lord Śiva’s bow, suppressing Paraśurāma, piercing seven tāla trees, slaying Vālī, building a bridge across the ocean and destroying Rāvaṇa’s armed force.3 This very person is described in each and every word in this section of verses [from 1.1.8-18].
Śrī Nārada first of all describes features that describe His constitutional nature from the portion of the text beginning niyatātmā.
Niyatātmā means “one whose nature does not change,” that is, “one who is untransformed.” This is noted in the Śruti as follows:
nāsya jarayaitaj jīryate na vadhenāsya hanyate
“This Supreme Soul does not decay due to old age, and does not die by being killed.” (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 8.1.5)
apahata-pāpmā vijaro vimṛtyur viśoko vijighatso ’pipāsaḥ
“He is free from sins, old age, death, misery, desires for [material] enjoyment and thirst.” (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 8.7.1)
Mahā-vīryaḥ (“of great strength”): He possesses inconceivable and multifarious potencies, for we learn from the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.8):
parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca
“From the Vedas we hear how that Supreme Lord possesses multifarious energies—the potencies of knowledge, strength and action—each of which acts autonomously.”
Dyutimān (“splendorous”) indicates that He is naturally self-manifest, self-revealing and that His form is that of consciousness. The Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad (2.4.12 and 4.5.13) Upaniṣads describes Him as concentrated knowledge—”vijñāna-ghana” and “prajñāna-ghanaḥ.”
Dhṛtimān (“blissful”) means “one who possesses unbounded bliss,” for the dictionary Vaijayantī states—dhṛtis tu tuṣṭiḥ santoṣaḥ: “Dhṛti can mean ‘happiness’ or ‘satisfaction’” and the Taittirīya Upaniṣad (3.6) declares—ānando brahma: “The Supreme Brahman is bliss.”
Vaśī indicates that the entire universe is under His control; He is the master of everyone. This is stated in the Śruti too—sarvasya vaśī sarvasyeśānaḥ: “He is the controller of everyone. He is the Lord of everyone.”
NOTE. While summarizing Rāma-līla, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam underscores Lord Rāma’s public performance of those activities that are impossible for jīvātmās to perform.