पद्मपत्रेक्षणो वीरः श्यामो निरुदरो महान्।
धर्मज्ञः सत्यवादी च ह्रीनिषेधो जितेन्द्रियः॥
padma-patrekṣaṇo vīraḥ śyāmo nirudaro mahān
dharmajñaḥ satyavādī ca hrī-niṣedho jitendriyaḥ
padma-patra-īkṣaṇaḥ = His eyes resemble the petals of a lotus; vīraḥ = He is heroic; śyāmaḥ = dark; nirudaraḥ = not fat; mahān = a great; dharmajñaḥ = knower of dharma; satyavādī = truthful in speech; ca = and; hrī-niṣedhaḥ = He restrains Himself from forbidden activities out of embarrassment; jita-indriyaḥ = [because] His senses are controlled.
His eyes resemble the petals of a lotus. He is heroic, dark, not fat, a great knower of dharma and truthful in speech.1 [Because] His senses are controlled, He restrains Himself from forbidden activities out of embarrassment.
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: nirudaraḥ atundilaḥ.
GLOSS. Nirudaraḥ indicates that Bharata was thin-bellied because of less eating. Hrī-niṣedhaḥ indicates that He had restrained His shyness; He restrained from thinking, “I am a king’s son. How can I lie on the bare floor?”