ततश्च द्वादशे मासे चैत्रे नावमिके तिथौ।
नक्षत्रेऽदितिदैवत्ये स्वोच्चसंस्थेषु पञ्चसु॥
ग्रहेषु कर्कटे लग्ने वाक्पताविन्दुना सह।
प्रोद्यमाने जगन्नाथं सर्वलोकनमस्कृतम्॥
कौसल्याजनयद्रामं सर्वलक्षणसंयुतम्।
विष्णोरर्धं महाभागं पुत्रमैक्ष्वाकवर्धनम्।
लोहिताक्षं महाबाहुं रक्तोष्ठं दुन्दुभिस्वनम्॥
tataś ca dvādaśe māse caitre nāvamike tithau
nakṣatre ’diti-daivatye svocca-saṁstheṣu pañcasu
graheṣu karkaṭe lagne vāk-patāv indunā saha
prodyamāne jagan-nāthaṁ sarva-loka-namaskṛtam
kausalyājanayad rāmaṁ sarva-lakṣaṇa-saṁyutam
viṣṇor ardhaṁ mahā-bhāgaṁ putram aikṣvāka-vardhanam
lohitākṣaṁ mahā-bāhuṁ raktoṣṭhaṁ dundubhi-svanam
tataḥ ca = from then; dvādaśe = on the twelfth; māse = month; caitre = of the month of Caitra; nāvamike = on the ninth; tithau = day; nakṣatre = and under the nakṣatra; aditi-daivatye = Punarvasu; sva-ucca-saṁstheṣu = in exalted positions; pañcasu = with five; graheṣu = planets; karkaṭe = in Cancer; lagne = on the horizon; vāk-patau = and Jupiter; indunā saha = with the moon; prodyamāne = conjoined; jagat-nātham = the Lord of the universe; sarva-loka-namaskṛtam = he was offered obeisances by all the worlds; kausalyā = Kausalyā; ajanayat = gave birth; rāmam = to Rāma; sarva-lakṣaṇa-saṁyutam = and endowed with all auspicious qualities noted in the Sāmudrika; viṣṇoḥ = that had come from Lord Viṣṇu; ardham = was manifested from half of the pāyasa; mahā-bhāgam = he possessed great fortune; putram = this son; aikṣvāka-vardhanam = He enhanced Daśaratha, the descendant of Ikṣvāku; lohita-akṣam = He was red-eyed; mahā-bāhum = with stout arms; rakta-oṣṭham = with red lips; dundubhi-svanam = and a voice as grave as the beating of the dundubhi drum.
On the twelfth month from then, on the ninth day of the month of Caitra, with five planets in exalted positions, with the moon and Jupiter conjoined on the horizon in Cancer and under the nakṣatra Punarvasu, Kausalyā gave birth to Rāma, the Lord of the universe. He was offered obeisances by all the worlds and endowed with all auspicious qualities noted in the Sāmudrika. This son was manifested from half of the pāyasa that had come from Lord Viṣṇu. He enhanced Daśaratha, the descendant of Ikṣvāku. He possessed great fortune. He was red-eyed, with stout arms, with red lips and a voice as grave as the beating of the dundubhi drum.1
1 That Rāma is red-eyed means that the corners of His eyes are red. This will be clear from later descriptions of Śrī Rāmacandra.
QUOTATIONS
quote[1] punarvasū nakṣatram aditir devatā. (Śruti)
quote[2] aja-vṛṣabha-mṛgāṅganā-kulīrā-jhaṣa-vaṇijau ca divākarādi-tuṅgāḥ. (Varāha Mihira)
quote[3] dṛḍha-sauhṛdo vinītaḥ sva-bandhu-sammānakṛd dhaneśaś ca / śaśi-gurvor guṇa-śīlaḥ sura-dvijebhyo rato bhavet puruṣaḥ.
quote[4] eka-grahocca-jātasya sarvāriṣṭa-vināśanam / dvi-grahocce tu sāmantas tri-grahocce mahī-patiḥ / caturgrahocce samrāṭ syāt pañcocce loka-nāyakaḥ.
quote[5] sūrye svocca-gate jātaḥ senāpatyam avāpnuyāt. bhaume svocca-gate jāto vane rājā bhaviṣyati. gurau svocca-gate jāto dhanī rājyādhipo bhavet. śukre svocca-gate jāto rājya-śriyam avāpnuyāt. śanau svocca-gate jāto rājyādhipa-samo bhavet.
quote[6] caitre madhura-bhāṣī syād ahaṅkāra-sukhānvitaḥ. dīrgha-vairī bhuvi khyāto vaśyaḥ śūraś ca paṇḍitaḥ, nirbhayaḥ sarva-bhūtebhyo navamyāṁ jāyate naraḥ. sahiṣṇur gūḍha-vṛttiś ca śleṣmalo nāṭya-kovidaḥ, agṛdhnur alpa-santuṣṭaḥ śīghra-go diti-dhiṣṇyajaḥ. karkaṭe lagnake candra-yukte dṛṣṭe ca bhogavān, guruṇā vīkṣite yukte dhanāḍhyo bahu-bhogavān.
quote[7] kaviḥ sugītaḥ priya-darśanaḥ sukhī dātā ca bhoktā nṛpa-pūjitaḥ śuciḥ / deva-dvijārādhana-tat-paro ’tha bhaven naro deva-gurau tanu-sthite (Horā-pradīpa)
quote[8] pun-nāmno narakāt trāyate.
Śrī Vālmīki then describes the appearance of Bhagavān in three verses.
Nakṣatre aditi-daivatye indicates that Lord Rāma was born under the nakṣatra Punarvasu. [1] “With five planets in exalted positions” indicates that the sun, Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn were each in the constellations of their exaltation.[2] [ Cancer ascending contained Jupiter conjunct with the moon, which has an auspicious result according to Varāha Mihira.[3]
The sage Vālmīki has not specified the names of the five planets in exalted positions here; this is to note the unique result of such an astrological combination.[4] Each of them in exalted position also has its own auspicious results.[5] There are also auspicious results for taking birth in the month of Caitra, on the ninth day, in the nakṣatra Punarvasu and in Karkaṭa-lagna (Cancer).[6] The sage has noted these astrological details to indicate specific auspicious results.
From these astrological details, it is understood that Lord Rāma took birth in the fourth pāda of Punarvasu. And that He took birth in Punarvasu in the month of Caitra indicates that He was born on the bright fortnight (śukla-pakṣa). That He is the Lord of the universe is clear from the astrological indications of the five planets being in exalted positions (pañcocce loka-nāyakaḥ). That He is offered obeisances by all the worlds is indicated by the astrological fact that Jupiter was conjoined on the horizon in Cancer.[7]
He was later named Rāma. The pāyasa given by Lord Viṣṇu was nondifferent from Him. Lord Rāma was a putra (“son”) even in the literal sense—one who saves his parents from hell.[8] Mahā-bhāgam indicates that by His personal potency He nullifies all astrological inauspiciousness.