उपस्पृश्योदकं सम्यग्मुनिस्स्थित्वा कृताञ्जलि: । प्राचीनाग्रेषु दर्भेषु धर्मेणान्वेषते गतिम् ।।1.3.2।।
Meaning
Sipping water in the prescribed way and sitting on kusha grass facing east with folded palms, he sought by the power of his austerity to trace the whole course of events.
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| upaspṛśya | उपस्पृश्य | having ritually sipped / touched | Gerund — prior action (ācamana) |
| udakam | उदकम् | water | Object — accusative singular |
| samyak | सम्यक् | properly, as prescribed | Adverb |
| muniḥ | मुनिः | the sage | Subject — nominative singular |
| sthitvā | स्थित्वा | having seated himself, having taken his place | Gerund |
| kṛtāñjaliḥ | कृताञ्जलिः | with palms joined in reverence | Adjective — nominative, qualifying muniḥ |
| prācīnāgreṣu | प्राचीनाग्रेषु | with their tips pointing east | Locative plural qualifying darbheṣu |
| darbheṣu | दर्भेषु | on blades of kusha grass | Locative plural — seat |
| dharmeṇa | धर्मेण | by (the power of) his righteousness and austerity | Instrumental — means |
| anveṣate | अन्वेषते | searches out, traces | Main verb — 3rd person singular present |
| gatim | गतिम् | the course, the way events went | Object — accusative singular |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source notes that touching or sipping water (aachamana) before any auspicious undertaking -- including an ordinary meal -- is a standing custom, explained as a practice that cleanses both mind and body before the act that follows. Here it precedes Valmiki's yogic effort to perceive the whole of Rama's story in detail.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.3.2 · Bāla Kāṇḍa