Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 1: Lord Rāma Meets the Sages of Daṇḍakāraṇya
Text 3.1.13
वैदेहीं लक्ष्मणं रामं नेत्रैरनिमिषैरिव।
आश्चर्यभूतान्ददृशुः सर्वे ते वनचारिणः॥
vaidehīṁ lakṣmaṇaṁ rāmaṁ netrair animiṣair iva
āścarya-bhūtān dadṛśuḥ sarve te vanacāriṇaḥ
vaidehīm = Vaidehī; lakṣmaṇam = Lakṣmaṇa; rāmam = and Rāma; netraiḥ = eyes; animiṣaiḥ = with unblinking; iva = as if; āścarya-bhūtān = the astonishing; dadṛśuḥ = watched; sarve = all; te = those; vanacāriṇaḥ = forest-dwellers.
All those forest-dwellers watched the astonishing Vaidehī, Lakṣmaṇa and Rāma as if with unblinking eyes.
The author states in here that the sages were also [astonished to see] Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa.
Āścarya-bhūtān indicates that Vaidehī, Lakṣmaṇa and Rāma possessed unprecedentedly astonishing forms [of beauty]. Frightened that their delight upon witnessing these divine forms would be broken, [the sages] watched [Vaidehī, Lakṣmaṇa and Rāma] with wide, astonished and unblinking eyes. This explains the expression “[the residents of the forest] appeared astonished” in the previous verse.