Canto 1 - Boyhood
Bāla-kāṇḍa
Chapter 15: The Demigods Appeal to the Lord for Protection
Text 1.15.19
त्वां नियोक्ष्यामहे विष्णो लोकानां हितकाम्यया॥
tvāṁ niyokṣyāmahe viṣṇo lokānāṁ hita-kāmyayā
tvām = to You; niyokṣyāmahe = we pray; viṣṇo = O Lord Viṣṇu; lokānām = the worlds; hita-kāmyayā = out of a desire to benefit.
O Lord Viṣṇu, we pray to You out of a desire to benefit the worlds.
1 Niyujyatām in haras tatra niyujyatām is also derived from the same verbal root niyuj and so has the same meaning.
Niyokṣyāmahe indicates that the demigods wanted to encourage Him.
In the Araṇya-kāṇḍa (Canto 3), we will come across Mother Sītā requesting Lord Rāma to not carry weapons in the forest, and she will conclude: smāraye tvāṁ na śikṣaye, “I am reminding You thus, not teaching You.” (Rāmāyaṇa 3.9.24)
Here also, the demigods are reminding Lord Viṣṇu, not teaching Him. They are merely encouraging Him, for He has Himself taken up the task of protecting His own devotees.
Niyokṣyāmahe does not mean “we appoint You.” Had it meant so, it would have been inappropriate for the demigods to have offered obeisances unto Him after fully glorifying Him.
Moreover, in this Rāmāyaṇa, the verbal root niyuj (the source of niyokṣyāmahe) has been used in the sense of “pray to.” Thus, in a later chapter in this Canto, Lord Brahmā will tell Bhagīratha: haras tatra niyujyatām, “Pray to Lord Śiva in this regard.” (Rāmāyaṇa 1.42.24)1 Therefore, niyokṣyāmahe here means, “We pray to You.”