तदपूर्वं नरपतेर्दृष्ट्वा रूपं भयावहम्।
रामोऽपि भयमापन्नः पदा स्पृष्ट्वेव पन्नगम्॥
इन्द्रियैरप्रहृष्टैस्तं शोकेसन्तापकर्शितम्।
निश्वसन्तं महाराजं व्यथिताकुलचेतसम्॥
ऊर्मिमालिनमक्षोभ्यं क्षुभ्यन्तमिव सागरम्।
उपप्लुतमिवादित्यमुक्तानृतमृर्षिं यथा॥
tad apūrvaṁ nara-pater dṛṣṭvā rūpaṁ bhayāvaham
rāmo ’pi bhayam āpannaḥ padā spṛṣṭveva pannagam
indriyair aprahṛṣṭais taṁ śoka-santāpa-karśitam
niśvasantaṁ mahā-rājaṁ vyathitākula-cetasam
ūrmi-mālinam akṣobhyaṁ kṣubhyantam iva sāgaram
upaplutam ivādiyam uktānṛtam ṛṣiṁ yathā
tat apūrvam = unprecedented; nara-pateḥ = the king’s; dṛṣṭvā = upon seeing; rūpam = appearance; bhaya-āvaham = frightening; rāmaḥ = Rāma; api = also; bhayam āpannaḥ = became afraid; padā = by the foot; spṛṣṭvā = He had touched; iva = as if; pannagam = a snake; indriyaiḥ = senses; aprahṛṣṭaiḥ = and unhappy; tam = the; śoka-santāpa-karśitam = was emaciated due to his sorrowful anguish; niśvasantam = he was sighing [repeatedly]; mahā-rājam = Mahārāja; vyathita-ākula-cetasam = and his mind was pained and distressed; ūrmi-mālinam = with its waves; akṣobhyam = [though it was supposed to be] unagitatable; kṣubhyantam = the agitated; iva = he was like; sāgaram = ocean; upaplutam = the eclipsed; iva = he was like; ādiyam = sun; ukta-anṛtam = devoid of his prowess because of having spoken untruth; ṛṣim = a sage; yathā = and like.
Upon seeing the king’s unprecedented frightening appearance, Rāma also became afraid as if He had touched a snake by the foot. The Mahārāja was emaciated due to his sorrowful anguish and unhappy senses. He was sighing [repeatedly] and his mind was pained and distressed. He was like the agitated ocean with its waves [though it was supposed to be] unagitatable. He was like the eclipsed sun and like a sage devoid of his prowess because of having spoken untruth.
1 While discussing the offenses to the holy name of the Lord, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has noted in his Śrī Hari-nāma (20) that speaking untruth is a sin and indicates therein that it is on par with cheating and debauchery.
It should be understood that api indicates that Rāma, who was unagitated even in the presences of thousands of causes of distress, feared that He might have been the cause of Daśaratha’s dejection.
GLOSS. Though Rāma was frightened here, [in reality, all the universal authorities are frightened of Him]:
bhīṣāsmād vātaḥ pavate bhīṣodeti sūryaḥ
bhīṣāsmād agniś candraś ca mṛtyur dhāvati pañcamaḥ
“It is out of fear of the Supreme Brahman [that the wind is blowing, out of fear of Him that the sun regularly rises and sets, and out of fear of Him that fire acts. It is only due to fear of Him that death and Indra, the king of heaven, perform their respective duties].” (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.8)
[In the Rāmāyaṇa verse,] the word apūrvam is also an adjective of bhayam, indicating that though Lord Rāma was factually fearless, He became fearful [of out love for Daśaratha].
Uktānṛtam ṛṣim (“a sage devoid of his prowess because of speaking untruth”) indicates that speaking untruth is a greatly degrading sin for a sage.1