विशुद्धवंशाभिजनाग्रहस्तस्तेजो-मदः संस्थितदोर्विषाणः।
उदीक्षितुं रावण नेह युक्तः स संयुगे राघवगन्धहस्ती॥
viśuddha-vaṁśābhijanāgraha-hastas
tejo-madaḥ saṁsthita-dor-viṣāṇaḥ
udīkṣituṁ rāvaṇa neha yuktaḥ
sa saṁyuge rāghava-gandha-hastī
viśuddha-vaṁśa-abhijana-agraha-hastaḥ = has a trunk in the form of birth in a pure and noble lineage; tejaḥ-madaḥ = the excitement in the form of prowess; saṁsthita-dor-viṣāṇaḥ = and tusks in the form of well-formed arms; udīkṣitum = be met; rāvaṇa = Rāvaṇa; na = not; iha = at this time and place; yuktaḥ = should; saḥ = He; saṁyuge = in battle; rāghava-gandha-hastī = the scent-elephant of Rāghava.
Rāvaṇa, the scent-elephant of Rāghava has a trunk in the form of birth in a pure and noble lineage, the excitement in the form of prowess and tusks in the form of well-formed arms.1 He should not be met in battle at this time and place.
1 Rāghava who is like a scent-elephant is born in a pure and noble lineage which is like the trunk of that elephant. His prowess is like the excitement of that elephant [during its mating season] and His well-formed arms are like the tusks of that elephant.
1 In the original Sanskrit text of the commentary, this appears a little later. It has been placed here in the English rendition to aid clarity.
2 The tusks of a scent-elephant are well formed and Śrī Rāma’s arms are also well formed; therefore they have been metaphorically equated.
Here, Rāma has been compared to a scent-elephant. [An elephant] because of whose mere scent other elephants flee away is said to be a scent-elephant.1 Because [a scent-elephant’s] trunk is long and [the pure and] noble lineage [in which Rāma was born] is also long, they have been metaphorically equated. Because the excitement of a scent-elephant [during its mating season] cannot be contained and [Rāma’s] prowess cannot also be contained [in war], they have been metaphorically equated.2
To further state Rāma’s excellence, Mārīca describes Rāma as being equal to a lion in the next verse.