चापावहारे भुजवेगपङ्के शरोर्मिमाले सुमहाहवौघे।
न रामपातालमुखेऽतिघोरे प्रस्कन्दितुं राक्षसराज युक्तम्॥
cāpāvahāre bhuja-vega-paṅke
śarormi-māle sumahāhavaughe
na rāma-pātāla-mukhe ’tighore
praskandituṁ rākṣasa-rāja yuktam
cāpa-avahāre = His bow resembles its alligators 4; bhuja-vega-paṅke = the speed of His arms resembles its quicksand; śara-ūrmi-māle = His arrows resemble its waves; sumahā-āhava-oghe = a very great battle with Him resembles its river; na = it is not; rāma-pātāla-mukhe = gateway to Pātāla that is Rāma; atighore = the horrendous; praskanditum = to fall into; rākṣasa-rāja = O king of the rākṣasas; yuktam = appropriate.
O king of the rākṣasas, it is not appropriate to fall into the horrendous gateway to Pātāla that is Rāma. His bow resembles its alligators. The speed of His arms resembles its quicksand. His arrows resemble its waves. A very great battle with Him resembles its river.
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: anena patana-kāla eva grahaṇa-sāmagry uktā.
Here everything one comes across as soon as one falls [into Pātāla] has been described.1
“The speed of His arms” refers to the speed with which He releases arrows. It resembles the quicksand [of Pātāla], that is, one who sinks into it is incapable of getting out. “A very great battle with Him resembles its river” indicates that it is impossible to be rescued [if one enters into a battle with Him].
Having described the actual state of affairs, Mārīca repeatedly consoles Rāvaṇa out of excessive love in the next verse.