Canto 2: Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa ()Chapter 1: Daśaratha Desires to Appoint Rāma as the Crown PrinceText 2.1.13
Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 1: Daśaratha Desires to Appoint Rāma as the Crown Prince
Text 2.1.13
बुद्धिमान्मधुराभाषी पूर्वभाषी प्रियंवदः।
वीर्यवान्न च वीर्येण महता स्वेन विस्मितः॥
buddhimān madhurābhāṣī pūrva-bhāṣī priyaṁvadaḥ
vīryavān na ca vīryeṇa mahatā svena vismitaḥ
buddhimān = Śrī Rāma was extremely intelligent; madhura-ābhāṣī = In speech, He was sweet; pūrva-bhāṣī = polite; priyam-vadaḥ = and pleasant; vīryavān = He was vigorous; na = not; ca = and; vīryeṇa = vigor; mahatā = great; svena = of His; vismitaḥ = proud 4.
Śrī Rāma was extremely intelligent. In speech, He was sweet, polite and pleasant. He was vigorous and not proud of His great vigor.
In all of His activities, Lord Rāma was considerate of others. That is pointed out in this verse.
With His extreme intelligence, He was always absorbed in thoughts of the welfare of the world—how can everyone be happy?1 He was sweet in speech, that is, He only spoke sweetly [and not harshly]. He was polite in speech, that is, He would proactively speak to those who were extremely inferior to Him. He was pleasant in speech, that is, He was pleasant in speech even to or about His enemies. Vīryavān here indicates that He was vigorous, that is, He was fully capable of neutralizing the obstacles of those who had taken shelter of Him. The same word in text 9 indicated that He was heroic in overpowering others effortlessly. And despite neutralizing the obstacles of those who had surrendered unto Him, He is not proud of His capability.
1. Literally, “He was always absorbed in thoughts of how to protect the world.” Saṁrakṣaṇa or protection means iṣṭa-prāpaṇa or providing what is desirable and aniṣṭa-vāraṇa or preventing what is undesirable. This is noted in the commentary to Rāmāyaṇa 1.30.2.