जानीषे त्वं जनस्थाने यथा भ्राता खरो मम।
दूषणश्च महाबाहुः स्वसा शूर्पणखा च मे॥
त्रिशिराश्च महातेजा राक्षसः पिशिताशनः।
अन्ये च बहवः शूरा लब्धलक्षा निशाचराः॥
वसन्ति मन्नियोगेन नित्यवासं च राक्षसाः।
बाधमाना महारण्ये मुनीन्वै धर्मचारिणः॥
jānīṣe tvaṁ janasthāne yathā bhrātā kharo mama
dūṣaṇaś ca mahā-bāhuḥ svasā śūrpaṇakhā ca me
triśirāś ca mahā-tejā rākṣasaḥ piśitāśanaḥ
anye ca bahavaḥ śūrā labdha-lakṣā niśācarāḥ
vasanti man-niyogena nitya-vāsaṁ ca rākṣasāḥ
bādhamānā mahāraṇye munīn vai dharmacāriṇaḥ
jānīṣe = know; tvam = you; janasthāne = in Janasthāna; yathā = that; bhrātā = brother; kharaḥ = Khara; mama = my; dūṣaṇaḥ ca = Dūṣaṇa; mahā-bāhuḥ = the mighty-armed; svasā = sister; śūrpaṇakhā ca = Śūrpaṇakhā; me = my; triśirāḥ = Triśirā; ca = and; mahā-tejāḥ = of great prowess; rākṣasaḥ = rākṣasa; piśita-aśanaḥ = a flesh-eating; anye = other; ca = as well as; bahavaḥ = many; śūrāḥ = heroic; labdha-lakṣāḥ = who had their opportunity [to fight]; niśācarāḥ = night-rangers; vasanti = reside; mat-niyogena = on my order; nitya-vāsam = while in permanent residence [there]; ca = and; rākṣasāḥ = [that these] rākṣasas; bādhamānāḥ = obstruct; mahā-araṇye = in the great forest; munīn vai = the sages; dharmacāriṇaḥ = engaged in dharma.
You know that my brother Khara, the mighty-armed Dūṣaṇa, my sister Śūrpaṇakhā and Triśirā, a flesh-eating rākṣasa of great prowess, as well as many other heroic night-rangers who had their opportunity [to fight] reside in Janasthāna.1 On my order, [these] rākṣasas while in permanent residence [there] obstruct the sages engaged in dharma in the great forest.
1 Technical note: labdha-lakṣāḥ labdhāvasarāḥ. The word lakṣa literally refers to a target and so labdha-lakṣāḥ indicates that these rākṣasas have now gotten their target—Rāma—and this is how they got their opportunity to fight with the Rāma who had killed some of their community.
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: rati-vāsam iti pāṭhe ratyā prītyā vāso yasmin karmaṇi tat tathā.
In some manuscripts, rati-vāsam appears instead of nitya-vāsam indicating that [these rākṣasas] lived happily [in Janasthāna].1