बुद्धिमान्नीतिमान्वाग्मी श्रीमाञ्शत्रुनिबर्हणः।
विपुलांसो महाबाहुः कम्बुग्रीवो महाहनुः॥
buddhimān nītimān vāgmī śrīmāñ śatru-nibarhaṇaḥ
vipulāṁso mahā-bāhuḥ kambu-grīvo mahā-hanuḥ
buddhimān = He is omniscient; nītimān = His dealings are strictly in line with the teachings of the Vedas; vāgmī = He is a propagator of Vedic teachings; śrīmān = He is prosperous; śatru-nibarhaṇaḥ = and a destroyer of those who obstruct His mission; vipula-aṁsaḥ = His shoulders are elevated; mahā-bāhuḥ = His arms are stout; kambu-grīvaḥ = His neck is like a conchshell; mahā-hanuḥ = His jaws are large.
He is omniscient. His dealings are strictly in line with the teachings of the Vedas. He is a propagator of Vedic teachings. He is prosperous and a destroyer of those who obstruct His mission. His shoulders are elevated, His arms are stout, His neck is like a conchshell and His jaws are large.
[16] śrīḥ kānti-sampador lakṣmyām (Bāṇa).
[17] eṣa bhūtādhi-patir eṣa bhūta-pālaḥ.
[18] atha ya eṣo ’ntar-āditye hiraṇmayaḥ puruṣo dṛśyate hiraṇya-śmaśrur hiraṇya-keśaḥ āpraṇakhāt sarva eva suvarṇas tasya yathā kapyāsaṁ puṇḍarīkam evam akṣiṇī tasyod iti nāma sa eṣa sarvebhyaḥ pāpamabhya udita udeti ha vai sarvebhyaḥ pāpmabhyo ya evaṁ veda.
[19] kakṣaḥ kukṣiś ca vakṣaś ca ghrāṇaḥ skandho lalāṭikā / sarva-bhūteṣu nirdiṣṭā unnatās tu sukha-pradāḥ.
[20] ājānu-lambinau bāhū vṛtta-pīnau mahīśvaraḥ / kambu-grīvaś ca nṛ-patir lamba-karṇo ’tibhūṣaṇaḥ / māṁsalau tu hanū yasya bhavatas tv īṣad-unnatau / sa naro mṛṣṭam aśnāti yāvad āyuḥ sukhānvitaḥ.
[21] rekhā-trayānvitā grīvā kambu-grīveti kathyate.
1 The Veda teaches the conditioned souls how to attain all that they might cherish within material existence—dharma, artha, kāma or mokṣa. Thus, Vedic sound is, from the mature point of view of realized sages, the most pleasing sound. One who propagates this most pleasing sound is undoubtedly a pleasing talker.
Śrī Nārada then describes the qualities of the Supreme Lord useful for His activity of creation.
Buddhimān means “omniscient.” The Śruti declares, yaḥ sarva-jñaḥ sarva-vit: “The omniscient knows the nature of everything.” (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.1.9)
Nītimān indicates that His dealings are within the boundaries of Vedic civilized behavior. The Śruti texts that refer to this feature of the Supreme Lord are:
dhātā yathā-pūrvam akalpayat
“The creator fashions the sun, moon and others as He had done before.” (Ṛg Veda 10.190.3)
eṣa setur vidharaṇa eṣāṁ lokānām asaṁbhedāya
“He is the bridge, the controller of these worlds to prevent them from breaking up.” (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 8.4.1)
A pleasing talker is called vāgmī. In this context, it means “one who propagates all of the Vedas.”1 The Śruti evidence for this is the text yo brahmāṇaṁ vidadhāti pūrvaṁ yo vai vedāṁś ca prahiṇoti tasmai: “I surrender unto the Supreme Lord who had formerly granted Brahmā the Vedas and enlightened him.” (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.18)
Śrīmān (“prosperous”) indicates that He possesses the prosperous opulences of material and spiritual existence because śrī in this context means “prosperity” [16]. The Śruti evidence in this connection is sarvam idam abhyāttaḥ: “The Supreme Brahman pervades over all of this existence.” (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.2)
The Maitrāyaṇī Upaniṣad (7.7) states that the Supreme Lord destroys anyone who obstructs Him in His mission [17].
Śrī Nārada Muni then points out, in two and a half verses, that every part of His transcendental body is beautiful as described in the Āditya-vidyā portion of the Upaniṣads [18].
Lord Rāma’s possession of elevated shoulders is one of the characteristics of a mahā-puruṣa, a great personality, according to the Sāmudrika, the scripture that describes the bodily characteristics of personalities [19]. His round arms, His conchlike neck and large jaws are also signs of a great personality [20]. Lord Rāma’s arms are also long; they reach up to His knees. This will be stated next. Halāyudha’s dictionary notes that a neck with three lines is referred to as a conchlike neck [21].