तत्सर्वं तत्त्वतो दृष्ट्वा धर्मेण स महाद्युतिः।
अभिरामस्य रामस्य चरितं कर्तुमुद्यतः॥
कामार्थगुणसंयुक्तं धर्मार्थगुणविस्तरम्।
समुद्रमिव रत्नाढ्यं सर्वश्रुतिमनोहरम्॥
tat sarvaṁ tattvato dṛṣṭvā dharmeṇa sa mahā-dyutiḥ
abhirāmasya rāmasya caritaṁ kartum udyataḥ
kāmārtha-guṇa-saṁyuktaṁ dharmārtha-guṇa-vistaram
samudram iva ratnāḍhyaṁ sarva-śruti-mano-haram
tat = those events; sarvam = all; tattvataḥ = factually; dṛṣṭvā = Having perceived; dharmeṇa = by the force of dharma; saḥ = that; mahā-dyutiḥ =splendorous sage; abhirāmasya = the greatly relishable; rāmasya = of Lord Rāma; caritam = on the activities of; kartum = to write a book; udyataḥ = readied himself; kāma-artha-guṇa-saṁyuktam = a book secondarily discussing sense enjoyment and economic success; dharma-artha-guṇa-vistaram = while primarily elaborating on religiosity and liberation; samudram = the ocean; eva = like ratna aḍhyam = enriched with jewels; sarva-śruti-mano-haram = charming to the ears and minds of all.
Having factually perceived all those events by the force of dharma, that splendorous sage readied himself to write a book on the activities of the greatly relishable Lord Rāma, a book secondarily discussing sense enjoyment and economic success while primarily elaborating on religiosity and liberation, like the ocean enriched with jewels, charming to the ears and minds of all.
1 Dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa are the four goals of human endeavor, as repeatedly pointed out in the Vedic scriptures. Dharma or religosity refers to attainment of pious credits (puṇya), artha to economic prosperity, kāma to sense enjoyment and mokṣa to liberation from the repeated cycle of birth and death.
2 Here, conch-shells and bones are compared to artha and kāma, while jewels are compared to dharma and mokṣa.
The result of his meditation was his endeavor to write a book on those activities. The sage was splendorous out of an abundance in delight born out of directly experiencing the transcendental qualities of Lord Rāma. Abhirāmasya indicates that Lord Rāma was boundlessly relishable to the sage in his meditation.
What sort of book did he endeavor to write? That is spelt out here. The word guṇa in kāmārtha-guṇa-saṁyuktam means “secondarily,” indicating that his book would treat kāma and artha secondarily, not primarily. They would be referred to in his book here and there, to demonstrate that they should be abandoned. The same word guṇa in dharmārtha-guṇa-vistaram means “abundantly,” indicating that in his book, dharma and mokṣa would be discussed in detail. This literature would primarily demonstrate the importance of these two goals of human endeavors.1 Therefore, the Rāmāyaṇa would be comparable to an ocean enriched with jewels, for though an ocean has conch-shells and bones, it primarily carries jewels.2 Sarva-śruti-mano-haram indicates that it would attract the minds and hearts of all people—the sweetness of its sounds would attract their ears and the excellence of its imports would attract their minds. He composed his book as per his endeavors exactly as instructed by Śrī Nārada.
NOTE: According to Viśva-kośa, guṇas tvāvṛtti-śabdād ijyendriyāmukhya-tantusu. The word guṇa can mean “repetition,” “worship,” “senses,” “secondary” and “rope.” In Śrī Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa, dharma and mokṣa have been repeatedly glorified while artha and kāma [even when in line with dharma] have only been secondarily appreciated, here and there.