अक्षयं मधुहन्तारं जानामि त्वां सुरोत्तमम्।
धनुषोऽस्य परामर्शात्स्वस्ति तेऽस्तु परन्तप॥
akṣayaṁ madhu-hantāraṁ jānāmi tvāṁ surottamam
dhanuṣo ’sya parāmarśāt svasti te ’stu parantapa
akṣayam = are the inexhaustible; madhu-hantāram = killer of the demon Madhu; jānāmi = I know that; tvām = You; sura-uttamam = You. are the best of the celestials; dhanuṣaḥ asya = [and used] this bow [successfully]; parāmarśāt = because You have taken; svasti te astu = may there be auspiciousness unto You; parantapa = O scorcher of Your enemies.
O scorcher of Your enemies, because You have taken [and used] this bow [successfully], I know that You are the inexhaustible killer of the demon Madhu. You are the best of the celestials. May there be auspiciousness unto You!
1 He does not undergo the six transformations that all material bodies undergo: “The [material] body is subject to six kinds of transformations. It takes its birth from the womb of the mother’s body, remains for some time, grows, produces some effects, gradually dwindles, and at last vanishes into oblivion.” (Bhagavad-gītā 2.20 purport)
Lord Rāma is inexhaustible, that is, untransformed.1 That He had killed the demon Madhu [in a different form in the past] indicates that He is habituated to removing [the surrendered souls’] obstacles. This clarifies the teaching of Mahā Upaniṣad (1): eko ha vai nārāyaṇa āsīn na brahmā neśānaḥ: “At first, there was only Nārāyaṇa, not Brahmā, not Īśāna (Śiva).”