ते तं सोममिवोद्यन्तं दृष्ट्वा वै धर्मचारिणः।
लक्ष्मणं चैव दृष्ट्वा तु वैदेहीं च यशस्विनीम्।
मङ्गलानि प्रयुञ्जानाः प्रत्यगृह्णन्दृढव्रताः॥
te taṁ somam ivodyantaṁ dṛṣṭvā vai dharmacāriṇaḥ
lakṣmaṇaṁ caiva dṛṣṭvā tu vaidehīṁ ca yaśasvinīm
maṅgalāni prayuñjānāḥ pratyagṛhṇan dṛḍha-vratāḥ
te = those; tam = Him; somam = moon; iva = who resembled; udyantam = the rising; dṛṣṭvā vai = by seeing; dharmacāriṇaḥ = followers of dharma; lakṣmaṇam = Lakṣmaṇa; ca eva = and; dṛṣṭvā tu = by seeing; vaidehīm = Vaidehī; ca = and; yaśasvinīm = the illustrious; maṅgalāni prayuñjānāḥ = invoked auspiciousness and; pratyagṛhṇan = served them; dṛḍha-vratāḥ = who were firmly fixed in their vows.
By seeing Him who resembled the rising moon and by seeing Lakṣmaṇa and the illustrious Vaidehī, those followers of dharma who were firmly fixed in their vows invoked auspiciousness and served them.
1 This was a cause of genuine concern on their part. As we will notice in this canto, Śūrpaṇakhā indeed became attracted to Rāma’s beauty, tender youth and so on, and we know what happened next.
Those knowers of the past, present and future who followed dharma considered Rāma who had descended to destroy the rākṣasas to be like the rising moon that had begun to dispel darkness, like the worshipable moon of the night immediately after Amāvāsyā. Like the moon covered by clouds, He has appeared amidst forests, they thought. They saw Him, the worshipable object of their practice of dharma. Previously they had seen Him [internally] by the power of dharma. Now they directly perceived Him with their eyes.
As soon as they saw Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa and Vaidehī, they invoked auspiciousness—even before they beseeched [Rāma] to award them the protection they needed. They invoked auspiciousness to ward off obstacles to Him as their hearts were agitated with the thought, “The forest is filled with several rākṣasas [and rākṣasīs]. What will happen to Rāma after His beauty, tender youth and so on are observed [by them]?”1 They served [Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa and Vaidehī] by getting up, giving them fruits and so on.