वसिष्ठ उवाच । एवमन्तर्विवेको यः स महानिह राघव । योग्यो ज्ञानगिरः श्रोतुं राजेव नयभारतीम् ॥ १ ॥
vasiṣṭha uvāca | ēvamantarvivēkō yaḥ sa mahāniha rāghava | yōgyō jñānagiraḥ śrōtuṁ rājēva nayabhāratīm || 1 ||
Translation
Vasiṣṭha said: One who has such discrimination within, Rāghava, is great here, and fit to hear the words of knowledge, as a king is fit to hear the teaching of statecraft.
Word by word
- vasiṣṭha
- Vasiṣṭha
- uvāca
- said
- ēvam
- such
- antar
- (antaḥ) within
- vivēkō
- (vivekaḥ) discrimination
- yaḥ
- one who has
- sa
- (saḥ) he
- mahān
- great
- iha
- here
- rāghava
- Rāghava
- yōgyō
- (yogyaḥ) fit
- jñāna
- of knowledge
- giraḥ
- the words
- śrōtuṁ
- to hear
- rājā
- a king
- iva
- as
- naya
- of statecraft
- bhāratīm
- the teaching
Meaning
The four gatekeepers have been described, and now Vasiṣṭha draws the conclusion. The commentary explains 'such discrimination' as the wealth of discrimination and the other qualities just taught. A king is not made fit for statecraft by hearing it; he hears it because he is to rule. So too the one who has these qualities is the one for whom the teaching is meant. This sarga is the threshold: what follows is a description of the whole work Rāma is about to hear.