ब्रह्मणा समनुज्ञातस्सोऽप्युपाविशदासने । उपविष्टे तदा तस्मिन्सर्वलोकपितामहे। तद्गतेनैव मनसा वाल्मीकिर्ध्यानमास्थित: ।।1.2.27।।
Meaning
Given leave by Brahma, Valmiki too sat down; yet even seated before the grandsire of all the worlds, his mind stayed fixed on the same thought.
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| brahmaṇā | ब्रह्मणा | by Brahma | Instrumental — agent |
| samanujñātaḥ | समनुज्ञातः | given leave | Past passive participle — nominative |
| saḥ api | सोऽपि | he too | Subject — nominative singular |
| upāviśat | उपाविशत् | sat down | Main verb — imperfect 3rd sg |
| āsane | आसने | on the seat | Locative of place |
| upaviṣṭe tasmin | उपविष्टे तस्मिन् | when he was seated | Locative absolute |
| tadā | तदा | then | Adverb — temporal |
| sarvalokapitāmahe | सर्वलोकपितामहे | the grandsire of all the worlds | Locative absolute — in apposition |
| tadgatena manasā | तद्गतेन मनसा | with his mind gone out to that matter | Instrumental of attendant circumstance |
| eva | एव | still, precisely | Emphatic particle |
| vālmīkiḥ | वाल्मीकिः | Valmiki | Subject — nominative singular |
| dhyānam āsthitaḥ | ध्यानमास्थितः | remained sunk in thought | Predicate phrase — nominative |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source flags something unusual here: deities do not typically arrive unprompted -- normally they reveal themselves only after great penance or an urgent plea. Brahma arriving on his own, without being summoned, is read by the tradition as the sign that this whole scene is engineered from above, to get the epic authored through Valmiki specifically. Even seated before Brahma with full hospitality extended, Valmiki's mind stays fixed on the verse he can't stop turning over -- the text notes this distraction continues even in the presence of the creator of the worlds.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.2.27 · Bāla Kāṇḍa