Let us listen very closely to the words echoing in the hermitage of Valmiki Maharshi.
The silence has been broken. The first word of the Ramayana's grand inquiry has been uttered. "Ko..." — Who?
But Alochinchandi... Observe the brilliance of a Brahmajnani! Valmiki did not just ask, "Who is a perfect man?" If he had asked that, Sage Narada could have easily smiled and said, "Oh, millions of years ago, in the Satya Yuga, there was a king..." or he could have pointed up to the heavens and said, "Lord Indra is great."
Valmiki closed those escape routes. Look at the exact phrasing he used: "Ko nu asmin sampratam loke..." Asmin Sampratam Loke! Meaning: "In this present world, right now, walking on this very earth..."
Eeswara... what a terrifying condition! Valmiki is saying, "O Narada, do not tell me stories of the distant past. Do not tell me about the Devatas in Swarga who drink nectar and never face disease or death. I am not interested in the perfection of the heavens. I want to know if there is a human being, breathing this polluted air, walking on this thorny earth, facing the betrayals and sorrows of mortal life today, who possesses absolute perfection!"
He is formulating the impossible. He is asking for a lotus to bloom flawlessly in a raging fire.
And then, Valmiki begins to place the bricks of this impossible architecture. He lists the sixteen Kalyana Gunas (noble qualities). We have already seen how he asked for the synthesis of Gunavan (virtuous goodness) and Viryavan (terrifying valor). But look at how he pairs the next qualities! Every single pair is a paradox that a mortal mind cannot hold together.
He asks: "Dharmajnah cha Kritajnah cha..." (One who knows absolute Dharma, and one who is absolutely Grateful).
Why put these two together? Alochinchandi... Think about our worldly life. When a man climbs to the very peak of power, when he becomes the ultimate authority on Dharma, what happens to him? He becomes arrogant! He thinks, "I made it here all by myself. I am the judge. Everyone owes me." A man of immense power rarely remembers the small help someone gave him when he was struggling. He loses Kritajnatam (gratitude).
But Valmiki is asking, "Show me a man who is the supreme authority of the universe, but who will fold his hands and melt with gratitude if someone offers him even a tiny leaf with love. Show me a king who remembers a small favor done to him decades ago, but completely forgets a hundred insults thrown at him yesterday!"
Is that possible for a mortal? It is impossible!
Then Valmiki asks: "Satyavakyo Dridhavratah..." (One whose word is absolute Truth, and whose resolve is Unbreakable).
We all try to tell the truth. But when do we lie? We lie when the truth becomes too dangerous. We lie to save our wealth, to save our families, to save our lives. Our vows are weak. But Valmiki is searching for a man who, once he makes a promise, will let the heavens fall, let the oceans dry up, let his own heart break into a thousand pieces, but will never let a falsehood cross his lips. He wants a man who is willing to lose his entire empire just to honor a promise made by his father to his stepmother!
The Maharshi continues to weave this impossible garland. "Charitravan... Sarvabhuteshu Hitah..." (Flawless in character, and the well-wisher of all living beings).
Not just the well-wisher of his friends. Not just the well-wisher of his citizens. Valmiki is asking for a human who sincerely wishes for the welfare of the very demon who is trying to kill him!
And then comes the ultimate climax of the inquiry. The final paradox. Valmiki asks for someone who is: "Priyadarshanah..." (So extraordinarily beautiful and pleasing that the eyes of the world never get tired of looking at him). But at the same time, when his righteous anger is provoked: "Kasya bibhyati devas cha jata roshasya samyuge!" (Even the Devatas tremble in fear when they see him on the battlefield!)
Eeswara! Look at this formulation!
If a man is extremely gentle and beautiful, we think he is soft. We think we can push him around. If a man is a terrifying warrior, his face is usually hardened by cruelty, and children run away from him.
But Valmiki wants the impossible. He wants the cool, soothing light of the full moon and the blazing, incinerating heat of the midday sun to exist in the exact same body! He wants a man whose face is so full of pure Prema (love) that a little squirrel feels safe sleeping in his lap, yet whose eyes, when filled with Dharmic wrath, can make the king of demons sweat in terror.
Valmiki finished his question. He laid out the sixteen parameters.
He had essentially drawn a perfectly square circle. He had described a fire that cools and a water that burns. By all laws of mortal nature, the combination of these sixteen qualities in one physical body is absolutely, fundamentally impossible.
Sitting on the Darbha grass, Sage Narada listened to this majestic, impossible formulation. And as he listened, an ocean of supreme bliss swelled in Narada's heart.
Narada knew that Valmiki, in his desperate grief for the world, had unknowingly recited the exact physical and spiritual description of the Paramatma (Supreme Lord). Valmiki was looking for a man, but he had defined God.
A radiant, beautiful smile broke across Sage Narada's face. The impossible had already been formulated by the Creator. And now, it was time to reveal the Name.