काञ्चनं रथमास्थाय कामगं रत्नभूषितम्।
पिशाचवदनैर्युक्तं खरैः काञ्चनभूषणैः॥
मेघप्रतिमनादेन स तेन धनदानुजः।
राक्षसाधिपतिः श्रीमान्ययौ नदनदीपतिम्॥
kāñcanaṁ ratham āsthāya kāmagaṁ ratna-bhūṣitam
piśāca-vadanair yuktaṁ kharaiḥ kāñcana-bhūṣaṇaiḥ
megha-pratima-nādena sa tena dhanadānujaḥ
rākṣasādhipatiḥ śrīmān yayau nada-nadī-patim
kāñcanam = that golden; ratham = chariot; āsthāya = got onto; kāmagam = it could go wherever one liked; ratna-bhūṣitam = and was ornamented with jewels; piśāca-vadanaiḥ = and with the faces of piśācas; yuktam = were yoked to it; kharaiḥ = donkeys; kāñcana-bhūṣaṇaiḥ = adorned with golden ornaments; megha-pratima-nādena = which rumbled like the clouds; saḥ = the; tena = on that chariot; dhanada-anujaḥ = younger brother of Kuvera; rākṣasa-adhipatiḥ = ruler of the rākṣasas; śrīmān = the prosperous; yayau = departed; nada-nadī-patim = towards the husband of the rivers.
The younger brother of Kuvera got onto that golden chariot. It could go wherever one liked and was ornamented with jewels. Donkeys adorned with golden ornaments and with the faces of piśācas were yoked to it.1 The prosperous ruler of the rākṣasas departed on that chariot, which rumbled like the clouds, towards the husband of the rivers.2
1 One might ask, “Why did Rāvaṇa have a chariot drawn by donkeys? Today a donkey-drawn cart is considered lowly, but why did Rāvaṇa—who could afford anything—not use horses?” First of all, Rāvaṇa was so powerful that he didn’t even need a chariot to fly about—we will notice that after Jaṭāyu destroys his chariot, he will take [Māyā] Sītā and fly away to Laṅkā, just by himself. We notice various celestial beings having their respective vehicles. Gaṅgā-devī is described as having a crocodile as her vehicle. Kuvera has a human being as his vehicle. Lord Śiva has a bull as his vehicle. Gaṇapati has a mouse as his vehicle. So there is no question of “Why did they use such-and-such vehicle? Couldn’t they afford horses?” And by the way, these vehicles are often described as having superhuman powers—they are not lowly—and many of them are vastly more powerful than the horses human beings use.
2 “The husband of the rivers” refers to the ocean because the presiding deity of the ocean is the husband of the presiding deities of the rivers.