Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 18: Śūrpaṇakhā Disfigured
Text 3.18.9
कथं दासस्य मे दासी भार्या भवितुमिच्छसि।
सोऽहमार्येण परवान्भ्रात्रा कमलवर्णिनि॥
kathaṁ dāsasya me dāsī bhāryā bhavitum icchasi
so ’ham āryeṇa paravān bhrātrā kamala-varṇini
katham = how is it that; dāsasya = a servant; me = of Me; dāsī = and therefore a maidservant; bhāryā = a wife; bhavitum = to become; icchasi = you want; saḥ aham = I; āryeṇa = to My elder; paravān = am subordinate 1; bhrātrā = brother; kamala-varṇini = O lady with the complexion of a lotus.
O lady with the complexion of a lotus, how is it that you want to become a wife and therefore a maidservant of Me, a servant?1 I am subordinate to My elder brother!
Lakṣmaṇa speaks the second half of this verse while anticipating the question, “Whose servant are You?”
“I am subordinate to My elder brother” means “He is My master. I am His servant.”
[Bhrātrākamala-varṇinī] can also be split as [bhrātrā] akamala-varṇinī [indicating that Lakṣmaṇa intended to address Śūrpaṇakhā as “O lady whose complexion does not resemble a lotus.”]
GLOSS. Kamala-varṇinī can also mean, “O lady who is as famous as the lotus.”1