स वृद्धस्तरुणीं भार्यां प्राणेभ्योपि गरीयसीम्।
अपापः पापसंकल्पां ददर्श धरणीतले॥
लतामिव विनिष्कृत्तां पतितां देवतामिव।
किन्नरीमिव निर्धूतां च्युतामप्सरसं यथा॥
मायामिव परिभ्रष्टां हरिणीमिव संयताम्।
करेणुमिव दिग्धेन विद्धां मृगयुना वने॥
sa vṛddhas taruṇīṁ bhāryāṁ prāṇebhyo ’pi garīyasīm
apāpaḥ pāpa-saṅkalpāṁ dadarśa dharaṇī-tale
latām iva viniṣkṛttāṁ patitāṁ devatām iva
kinnarīm iva nirdhūtāṁ cyutām apsarasaṁ yathā
māyām iva paribhraṣṭāṁ hariṇīm iva saṁyatām
kareṇum iva digdhena viddhāṁ mṛgayunā vane
saḥ = that; vṛddhaḥ = old man; taruṇīm = his youthful; bhāryām = wife; prāṇebhyaḥ = his very life; api = more than; garīyasīm = she was valuable to him; apāpaḥ = sinless; pāpa-saṅkalpām = she had resolved to engage in sin; dadarśa = saw; dharaṇī-tale = on the floor; latām = a creeper; iva = she was like; viniṣkṛttām = that had been cut; patitām = who had fallen; devatām = a demigoddess; iva = like; kinnarīm = kinnara lady; iva = like; nirdhūtām = an agitated; cyutām = fallen from the sky; apsarasam = an apsarā; yathā = like; māyām = a deluding lady; iva = like; paribhraṣṭām = employed to bewilder others; hariṇīm = a deer; iva = like; saṁyatām = captured in a net; kareṇum = a female elephant; iva = and like; digdhena = by a poisoned arrow; viddhām = pierced; mṛgayunā = by a hunter; vane = in the forest.
That sinless old man saw his youthful wife on the floor. She was more valuable to him than his very life. She had resolved to engage in sin. She was like a creeper that had been cut, like a demigoddess who had fallen, like an agitated kinnara lady, like an apsarā fallen from the sky, like a deluding lady employed to bewilder others, like a deer captured in a net and like a female elephant pierced by a poisoned arrow in the forest by a hunter.
1 This is the Kaikeyī that Daśaratha saw, and excited by the causes of passion from his inner quarters (Kaikeyī’s house), he succumbed to Kaikeyī’s tantrum. This is a lesson to all men in positions of leadership from the great sage Vālmīki to not become unintelligently “compassionate” to a materialistic woman.
1 Harināma-cintāmaṇi, Chapter 4, footnote 13: avaidha strī saṅgī evaṁ vaidha strī sambandhe straiṇa puruṣa, ei dui prakāra yoṣit-saṅgī.
Why didn’t the king understand while preparing for Rāma’s coronation that Rāma’s mother’s co-wife would be angry? That is stated here. Because Daśaratha was not deceitful and because he was bewildered in passion, he did not understand [that Kaikeyī would be angry with him].
Some manuscripts read vāmīm iva paribhraṣṭām instead of māyām iva paribhraṣṭām. In that case, Kaikeyī is being compared to mare that has escaped 4.
It is understood that Kaikeyī has been compared to a creeper that has been cut to indicate that she was fully on the ground, to a demigoddess who had fallen to indicate that her situation brought about astonishment [in Daśaratha], to a kinnara lady to indicate she was worthy of mercy, to an apsarā fallen from the sky to indicate that she was worthy of being seen, to a deluding lady employed to bewilder others to indicate that her complexions agitated [Daśaratha], to a deer captured in a net to indicate that she was motionless, and to a female elephant pierced by a poisoned arrow in the forest by a hunter to indicate that she brought about distress [in Daśaratha].1
NOTE. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has identified two types of men addicted to women:
men who sinfully associate with women and
men who sinlessly associate with their wives but are henpecked.2
The great ācārya states that according to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the association with the above two types of men should be avoided.