श्रीवाल्मीकिरुवाच । वदत्येवं मनोमोहविनिवृत्तिकरं वचः । रामे राजीवपत्राक्षे तस्मिन् राजकुमारके ॥ १ ॥
śrīvālmīkiruvāca | vadatyēvaṁ manōmōhavinivṛttikaraṁ vacaḥ | rāmē rājīvapatrākṣē tasmin rājakumārakē || 1 ||
Translation
Śrī Vālmīki said: When Rāma, the young prince with eyes like lotus petals, spoke in this way words that put an end to the delusion of the mind,
Word by word
- śrī
- Śrī
- vālmīkir
- (vālmīkiḥ) Vālmīki
- uvāca
- said
- vadati
- spoke
- ēvaṁ
- in this way
- manō
- (manaḥ) of the mind
- mōha
- to the delusion
- vinivṛtti
- an end
- karaṁ
- that put
- vacaḥ
- words
- rāmē
- when Rāma
- rājīva
- like lotus
- patra
- petals
- akṣē
- with eyes
- tasmin
- that
- rājakumārakē
- the young prince
Meaning
The narrator takes up the story again, and the next twenty-six verses describe the effect of Rāma's twenty sargas of discourse (1.12-1.31). Verses 1 to 3 are one sentence. Vālmīki names what the discourse was: words that turn back (vinivṛtti) the delusion of the mind (manomoha). They did not only describe dispassion; they produced it in those who heard. And the speaker is called a rājakumāraka, "the young prince", with a diminutive that recalls how young he is (he is about sixteen). That a boy should speak so is part of the wonder that follows. The reader may consider that the force of words of this kind does not depend on the speaker's age or rank but on whether they were lived before they were said.