असौ रणान्तस्थितिसन्धिवालो विदग्धरक्षोमृगहा नृसिंहः।
सुप्तस्त्वया बोधयितुं न युक्तः शराङ्गपूर्णो निशितासिदंष्ट्रः॥
asau raṇānta-sthiti-sandhi-vālo
vidagdha-rakṣo-mṛgahā nṛ-siṁhaḥ
suptas tvayā bodhayituṁ na yuktaḥ
śarāṅga-pūrṇo niśitāsi-daṁṣṭraḥ
asau = that; raṇa-anta-sthiti-sandhi-vālaḥ = whose leading position in battle resembles the lion’s tail; vidagdha-rakṣaḥ-mṛgahā = who kills expert rākṣasas that resemble deer; nṛ-siṁhaḥ = man who resembles a lion; suptaḥ = sleeping; tvayā = you; bodhayitum = wake up; na yuktaḥ = should not; śara-aṅga-pūrṇaḥ = who possesses arrows that resemble the lion’s bodily limbs; niśita-asi-daṁṣṭraḥ = and whose sharp sword resembles the lion’s teeth.
You should not wake up that sleeping man who resembles a lion, whose leading position in battle resembles the lion’s tail, who possesses arrows that resemble the lion’s bodily limbs, who kills expert rākṣasas that resemble deer, and whose sharp sword resembles the lion’s teeth.
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: yadvā vidvan-mānasa-haṁsa itivat śliṣṭaṁ rūpakam.
An angry lion displays its tail out of pride in the presence of beasts [hostile to it]. This is metaphorically equal to [Rāma’s] leading position in battle.
This metaphor is similar to that of a learned person and a swan in the Mānasa lake.1
Even if one has approached [a lion], if by providence it looks elsewhere, he can protect himself [from that lion]; but that is not the case with one who goes to war with Rāmacandra. With this in mind, Mārīca describes Rāma as being equal to Pātāla in the next verse.