आरक्षो मे हतस्तात रामेणाक्लिष्टकर्मणा।
जनस्थानमवध्यं तत्सर्वं युधि निपातितम्।
तस्य मे कुरु साचिव्यं तस्य भार्यापहारणे॥
ārakṣo me hatas tāta rāmeṇākliṣṭa-karmaṇā
janasthānam avadhyaṁ tat sarvaṁ yudhi nipātitam
tasya me kuru sācivyaṁ tasya bhāryāpahāraṇe
ārakṣaḥ = frontier-guards; me = my; hataḥ = have been slain; tāta = dear [Sir]; rāmeṇa = by Rāma; akliṣṭa-karmaṇā = whose activities are indefatigable; janasthānam = Janasthāna; avadhyam = which was invincible; tat = the famous; sarvam = entirely; yudhi = in battle; nipātitam = has been beaten down; tasya me = me; kuru sācivyam = please assist; tasya = His; bhāryā-apahāraṇe = in stealing wife.
Dear [Sir], my frontier-guards have been slain by Rāma whose activities are indefatigable. The famous Janasthāna which was invincible has been entirely beaten down in battle. Please assist me in stealing His wife!1
1 A rendering of this sentence closer to the literal meaning would be: “Assist me, a person in this condition, in stealing His wife.” The very fact that Rāvaṇa casually asks Mārīca to help him steal someone else’s wife indicates that this was a routine business for Rāvaṇa.
1 Even though Janasthāna is a mere place, in the current context it refers to the rākṣasas living in Janasthāna and not the place Janasthāna. Such a usage in Sanskrit is quite common. Compare it with the English phrase Wall Street, a phrase often used to describe the entire American financial and corporate banking sector. This is an instance of a common figure of speech in English called metonymy.
2 Rāmāyaṇa-bhāva-dīpa: “ārakṣaṁ rakṣaṇīye syāt” iti viśvaḥ.
“Janasthāna” refers to the rākṣasas residing there.1
Tasya me indicates that Rāvaṇa had lost his kinsmen.
GLOSS. “Frontier guards” refer to Khara and others who were meant to be protected [by Rāvaṇa].2