प्रहर्षोत्फुल्लनयनां पाण्डुरक्षौमवासिनीम्।
अविदूरे स्थितां दृष्ट्वा धात्रीं पप्रच्छ मन्थरा॥
praharṣotphulla-nayanāṁ pāṇḍura-kṣauma-vāsinīm
avidūre sthitāṁ dṛṣṭvā dhātrīṁ papraccha mantharā
praharṣa-utphulla-nayanām = her eyes were blooming in great joy; pāṇḍura-kṣauma-vāsinīm = and she wore a light yellow dress in silk; avidūre = not far from her; sthitām = was standing; dṛṣṭvā = noticing her thus; dhātrīm = a foster mother of Rāma; papraccha = asked her as follows; mantharā = Mantharā.
dhātrīm = Rāma’s foster mother 4;
A foster mother of Rāma was standing not far from her. Her eyes were blooming in great joy and she wore a light yellow dress in silk. Noticing her thus, Mantharā asked her as follows.
1 Dhātrīm refers to a wet nurse. Though theoretically, it can refer to any wet nurse, here it refers to Rāma’s wet nurse, that is, His foster mother, because the sage Vālmīki has described her with eyes blooming in great joy and that she wore a light yellow dress in silk, which are evidences of her extreme happiness. As it will be evident further on, Mantharā noticed Kausalyā distributing wealth and so she sensed that Ayodhyā’s joy had something to do with Rāma, and therefore she asked this foster mother of Rāma.
The first line of this verse indicates that this was Rāma’s foster mother.1
1. Dhātrīm refers to a wet nurse. Though theoretically, it can refer to any wet nurse, here it refers to Rāma’s wet nurse, that is, His foster mother, because the sage Vālmīki has described her with eyes blooming in great joy and that she wore a light yellow dress in silk, which are evidences of her extreme happiness. As it will be evident further on, Mantharā noticed Kausalyā distributing wealth and so she sensed that Ayodhyā’s joy had something to do with Rāma, and therefore she asked this foster mother of Rāma.