तरुणौ रूपसम्पन्नौ सुकुमारौ महाबलौ।
पुण्डरीकविशालाक्षौ चीरकृष्णाजिनाम्बरौ॥
taruṇau rūpa-sampannau sukumārau mahā-balau
puṇḍarīka-viśālākṣau cīra-kṛṣṇājināmbarau
taruṇau = those two are young; rūpa-sampannau = and enriched with beauty; sukumārau = They are very tender; mahā-balau = and possess great strength; puṇḍarīka-viśāla-akṣau = Their wide eyes resemble white lotuses; cīra-kṛṣṇa-ajina-ambarau = They are clothed in bark and deer skin.
Those two are young and enriched with beauty. They are very tender and possess great strength. Their wide eyes resemble white lotuses. They are clothed in bark and deer skin.1
1 Because Lord Śrī Rāmacandra had no defects, Śūrpaṇakhā simply tells Khara about His good qualities. Lakṣmaṇa has already stated, “I have not seen a single man in the world who even in Rāma’s absence has spoken of any fault of His, even if he is His friend or has been criticized by Him.” (Rāmāyaṇa 2.21.6) Thus we can understand that Lord Śrī Rāma was attractive to all and that His transcendental form and qualities delighted His friends and enemies alike. Therefore, though Śūrpaṇakhā has been deformed, she describes His beauty to experience great happiness. Technical note: śrī-rāmacandre doṣāṇām abhāvād guṇoktyaiva taṁ bodhayati taruṇāv ity-ādi. “na taṁ paśyāmy ahaṁ loke parokṣam api yo naraḥ, sva-mitro ’pi nirasto ’pi yo ’sya doṣam udāharet” ity-ukteḥ sarva-loka-spṛhaṇīyasya śrī-rāmasya divya-rūpa-guṇānāṁ mitrāmitra-sādhāraṇyena ānandakaratvāt tena virūpitāpi śūrpaṇakhā tad-rūpa-guṇa-varṇanena vā parama-sukham anubhaviṣyāmīti dhiyā varṇayati taruṇāv ity-ādinā.
1 In other words, Hanumān was, like everyone else in Rāma-līlā, attracted to Rāma’s beauty and so he immediately talked about that.
2 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: itareṣāṁ kāmādīnāṁ rūpam ābhyāṁ bhikṣitvā sampādayitavyam iti manyamānāv ity arthaḥ.
3 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: yadvā rūpa-sampannau sampanna-rūpau. āhitāgny-āditvāt para-nipātaḥ. tena “utpannaṁ dravyaṁ kṣaṇam aguṇaṁ tiṣṭhati” iti nyāyāṁ vihāya “rūpa-dākṣiṇya-sampannaḥ prasūtaḥ” ity ukta-rītyā dharmiṇā sahaivotpanna-rūpāv ity arthaḥ.
4 This statement is spoken by King Duṣyanta upon observing the beautiful Śakuntalā clad in bark robes. The idea behind referring to this is: Though Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa just wore bark and deer skin, since They are already sweet to the eyes, Their bark and deer ornamented their sweet beauty.
5 Kālidāsa’s Raghu-vaṁśa 1.8-9—śaiśave ’bhyasta-vidyānāṁ yauvane viṣayaiṣiṇām, vārdhake muni-vṛttīnāṁ yogenānte tanu-tyajām: “[The members of Raghu’s dynasty] acquired learning in boyhood, sought sensual pleasures in youth, behaved as sages in old age and gave up their bodies while rapt in meditation on God.”
6 Kanyā kāmayate rūpam: A virgin bride wants her bridegroom to be handsome. See note to Rāmāyaṇa 1.67.22.
7 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: cīra-kṛṣṇājināmbarau sadā baddha-vasanatayā yuddha-sannaddhāv ity arthaḥ.
8 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.16.9: taṁ prekṣaṇīya-sukumāra-ghanāvadātaṁ śrīvatsa-pīta-vasanaṁ smita-sundarāsyam, krīḍantam apratibhayaṁ kamalodarāṅghriṁ sandaśya marmasu ruṣā bhujayā cachāda.
Khara had asked Śūrpaṇakhā, “Who deformed you like this?” [in text 2]. Instead of simply saying, “Daśaratha has two sons: the brothers Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa,” why does Śūrpaṇakhā describe Their beauty and other features by saying that They are young, endowed with beauty and so on?
This is because even though she had been deformed [by Them], because she hadn’t developed detachment and renunciation [from material enjoyment], she spoke out her mind due to excessive passionate bewilderment even in the presence of her brother and others.
This is the very nature of those who have seen Rāma, [whether] they are favorable or unfavorable [to Him].
[For instance, in Chapter 35 of Canto 5,] Sītā inquires [from Hanumān] about Rāma’s identifiable characteristics. In response, Hanumān [immediately] states:
rāmaḥ kamala-patrākṣaḥ sarva-sattva-manoharaḥ
rūpa-dākṣiṇya-sampannaḥ prasūto janakātmaje
“Rāma has eyes that resemble lotus leaves. He charms the minds of all creatures. O daughter of Janaka, He is born with beauty and kindness.” (Rāmāyaṇa 5.35.8)
And he does so even though he was supposed to [first of all] state the following:
tri-sthiras tri-pralambaś ca tri-samas triṣu connataḥ
tri-tāmras triṣu ca snigdho gambhīras triṣu nityaśaḥ
“Three parts of His body are flat. Three parts of His body are long. Three parts of His body are equal and three parts of His body are elongated. Three parts of His body are copper-red. Three parts of His body are moist. Three parts of His body are always deep.”1 (Rāmāyaṇa 5.35.17)
Supta-pramatta-kupitānāṁ bhāva-jñānaṁ dṛṣṭam: “The attitude of persons are evident when they are asleep, senseless or angry.” In accordance with this maxim, Śūrpaṇakhā, who was senseless and angry because her ears and nose had been cut, has simply stated what was in her mind.
Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa were taruṇau or young. Indeed, passionate women are first of all attracted to [men who are youthful in] age. Therefore she mentioned this [first]. Even though They are equal in age, is one more beautiful than the other? No. Both of Them were rūpa-sampannau or enriched with beauty. [Śūrpaṇakhā alleged that] They think that Kāmadeva and others should beg for beauty from Them to enhance [their beauty].2 Rūpa-sampannau also indicates that Rāma [and Lakṣmaṇa] were always endowed with beauty as indicated in text 5.35.8 as indicated above.3
Despite the presence of [youthful] age and beauty, are Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa hard to touch? No. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa are sukumārau, “very tender.” She implies that Their bodies are not hard like Khara’s body, but very tender like a flower garden.
Despite possessing an overall beauty, are any of Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa’s bodily parts devoid of beauty? No. Puṇḍarīka-viśālākṣau: “Their broad eyes resemble white lotuses.” Their eyes were unlike the eyes of Khara and his associates who are described as saṁrakta-nayanā ghorāḥ, “fierce with red eyes” (Rāmāyaṇa 3.20.12)
Even though Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa wore bark and deer skin, They were extremely charming:
kim iva hi madhurāṇāṁ maṇḍanaṁ nākṛtīnām
“What is it that is not an ornament to sweet figures?” (Abhijñāna-śākuntala 1.17)4
Through this verse, Śūrpaṇakhā also tells Khara, who is frightened about the person of great prowess [who deformed her], that Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa are weak. These are her arguments: “They are young—so They are [naturally] unfit for war. It is said that at youth one hankers for sense objects and since They are inclined to sense objects, They are afraid of war.5 They are endowed with beauty. Since a girl wants a beautiful husband, They are enhancing Their bodies to seduce women—They are not endowed with manly courage.6 They are tender [because They are] rich sons of a rich man; therefore They are incapable of tolerating the blows of your weapons. They are extremely weak and therefore incapable of [facing] you and your army. Also, They were with a girl more tender [than Them] and since They are with the wife of one [and] she opposes war, They are not fit for war. Their eyes are wide and resemble a white lotus. That They are unfit for war is evident from the fact that after I was deformed, Their eyes have become white—in fear. They wear bark and deer skin which indicates that They are not even capable of providing Themselves with [good] clothing—They wear clothes procured from the moving and non-moving creatures by begging.”
And through this very verse, Śūrpaṇakhā tells him that Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa possess an abundance of strength to impel Khara [to go to war with Them]. Here are her arguments: Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa are young, at an age fit to be enthusiastic about becoming victorious. They are endowed with beauty for Rāma’s chest was broad and His arms were mighty (siṁhoraskaṁ mahā-bāhum)—this indicates that the bodies of Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa created terror in the hearts of opponents who just saw Them, even in the absence of a war. Because They are very tender, They can effortlessly destroy everyone. They possessed great strength: the strength of mind, the strength of Their arms and the strength of Their accessories. Their eyes were wide and resembled a white lotus: Their eyes were spotless, that is, they don’t have the impurity of vision because of which one considers his hostile enemy to be his authority; in other words, They were not agitated by seeing Their enemies. They wore bark and deer skin which indicates that They were always dressed for war.7
The verses that will next be spoken [by Śūrpaṇakhā about Them in this chapter] should also be construed in the same manner.
NOTE. The commentator has appropriately noted that Rāma’s beauty had an impact on everyone, both those favorable to Him and those unfavorable to Him.
This feature was displayed more vividly by the Original Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa when He entered the Yamunā to subdue Kāliya. Prabhupāda writes in Kṛṣṇa: The Supreme Personality of Godhead (Chapter 16):
When Kṛṣṇa was swimming about just like a great strong elephant, He made a tumultuous sound, which the great black serpent Kāliya could hear. The tumult was intolerable for him, and he could understand that this was an attempt to attack his home. Therefore he immediately came before Kṛṣṇa. Kāliya saw that Kṛṣṇa was indeed worth seeing because His body was so beautiful and delicate; its color resembled that of a cloud, and His feet resembled lotus flowers. He was decorated with Śrīvatsa, jewels and yellow garments. He was smiling with a beautiful face and playing in the river Yamunā with great strength.8