अपि स्वस्ति भवेत्तात सर्वेषां भुवि रक्षसाम्।
अपि रामो न सङ्क्रुद्धः कुर्याल्लोकमराक्षसम्॥
api svasti bhavet tāta sarveṣāṁ bhuvi rakṣasām
api rāmo na saṅkruddhaḥ kuryāl lokam arākṣasam
api1 svasti = be well and good; bhavet = will; tāta = dear Rāvaṇa; sarveṣām = all; bhuvi = on earth; rakṣasām = the rākṣasas; api2 rāmaḥ = Rāma; na saṅkruddhaḥ kuryāt = wouldn’t furious make; lokam = the world; arākṣasam = devoid of rākṣasas.
Dear Rāvaṇa, will all the rākṣasas on earth be well and good? Wouldn’t furious Rāma make the world devoid of rākṣasas?”
1 Technical note: bhaved api. bhavet kim? na bhaved eva.
2 Technical note: na kuryād api. na kuryāt kim? kuryāt eva.
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: apiḥ sambhāvanāyām. kāku-svaro draṣṭavyaḥ. evam uttara-vākyeṣv api svara-paryavasānenārtha-paricchedaḥ kāryaḥ.
2 In other words, Vibhīṣaṇa and members of rākṣasa families who followed Vibhīṣaṇa are excluded from the discussion here because they would obviously be protected by Lord Rāmacandra.
Api [in this and the next two verses] indicate possibilities and are questions.1 The rākṣasas referred to in this verse are those of Rāvaṇa’s ilk.2 Mārīca addressed Rāvaṇa with the word tāta (“dear Rāvaṇa”) to prevent him from doing that which should not be done.