स रावणं त्रस्तविषण्णचेता महावने रामपराक्रमज्ञः।
कृताञ्जलिस्तत्त्वमुवाच वाक्यं हितं च तस्मै हितमात्मनश्च॥
sa rāvaṇaṁ trasta-viṣaṇṇa-cetā
mahā-vane rāma-parākramajñaḥ
kṛtāñjalis tattvam uvāca vākyaṁ
hitaṁ ca tasmai hitam ātmanaś ca
saḥ = his; rāvaṇam = to Rāvaṇa; trasta-viṣaṇṇa-cetāḥ = mind became frightened and dejected; mahā-vane = in the large forest; rāma-parākramajñaḥ = because He was aware of Rāma’s prowess; kṛta-añjaliḥ = with folded hands; tattvam = of truth; uvāca = he spoke; vākyam = words; hitam ca = good; tasmai = for Rāvaṇa’s; hitam = good; ātmanaḥ = for his own; ca = and.
His mind became frightened and dejected because He was aware of Rāma’s prowess in the large forest. With folded hands, he spoke words of truth to Rāvaṇa for Rāvaṇa’s good and for his own good.
[1] yuddham āyodhanaṁ janyaṁ praghanaṁ pravidāraṇam / mṛdham āskandanaṁ saṅkhyam. (Amara)
[2] sattvaṁ bale ca jantau ca. (Viśva)
1 See the note to Rāmāyaṇa 3.25.13 for evidence quoted by Madhvācārya from the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa that when the Supreme Personality of Godhead descends to this world and appears to suffer various miseries, it is just to bewilder the demoniac. The Kūrma Purāṇa will be quoted a little later to prove that Sītā-devī was not factually kidnapped by Rāvaṇa, for he was presented with a duplicate of her whom he kidnapped. In this way, the mother and father of the universe put on a nice drama to teach the divine and the demoniac lessons appropriate to each.
This verse summarizes the next chapter.
Mārīca was aware of Rāma’s prowess in Daṇḍakāraṇya in the past.
NOTE. It is ridiculous to attempt to deceive the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His internal potency. In reality, it was the Supreme Lord Rāmacandra and Śrī Sītā-devī who deceived Rāvaṇa because, as we learn from the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa and Kūrma Purāṇa, Lord Rāma pretended to suffer like an ordinary attached householder and Sītā-devī put on a show of being kidnapped by Rāvaṇa.1
Prabhupāda has noted:
There are many kinds of cheaters all over the universe . . . As the Supreme, Kṛṣṇa can be more deceitful than any mere man . . . If Kṛṣṇa chooses to deceive a person, no one can surpass Him in His deceit. His greatness is not simply one-sided—it is all-sided. (Bhagavad-gītā 10.36 purport)