पश्यन्ति paśyantī

हे सर्वगुणोपेत श्रीराम ! अस्मिन् शुभे विजयदशमीदिने त्वद्गुणप्रतिपादकमिमं निबन्धं भक्तजनप्रेरणार्थं तव चरणयोः समर्पयामि ॥ Vālmīki's Question Before Vālmīki composed a single verse of the Rāmāyaṇa, he asked a question. Meeting Nārada, the foremost of the learned, he inquired whether there lived in this world a person who embodied a particular set of qualities. The whole epic is, in a sense, the answer. Nārada begins by saying that the qualities Vālmīki has listed are many and hard to find together (१-१-७). He then names Rāma of the Ikṣvāku line. इक्ष्वाकुवंशप्रभवो रामो नाम जनैः श्रुतः । नियतात्मा महावीर्यो द्युतिमान् धृतिमान् वशी ॥ १-१-८ ikṣvākuvaṃśaprabhavo rāmo nāma janaiḥ śrutaḥ | niyatātmā mahāvīryo dyutimān dhṛtimān vaśī || "Born in the line of Ikṣvāku, he is known among people by the name Rāma: self-controlled, of great valor, radiant, steadfast, and master of his senses." In this short essay I look at the sixteen qualities Vālmīki asked about, and at one place in the...