न हि रामं पराक्रम्य जीवन्प्रतिनिवर्तते।
वर्तते प्रतिरूपोऽसौ यमदण्डहतस्य ते॥
na hi rāmaṁ parākramya jīvan pratinivartate
vartate pratirūpo ’sau yama-daṇḍa-hatasya te
na = no; hi = for; rāmam = Rāma; parākramya = overcomes [in battle]; jīvan = staying alive; pratinivartate = and returns; vartate = while; pratirūpaḥ = like; asau = one; yama-daṇḍa-hatasya = who [have been] struck by Yamarāja’s rod [of death]; te = you.
For no one, like you who [have been] struck by Yamarāja’s rod [of death], overcomes Rāma [in battle] and returns while staying alive.1
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: yama-daṇḍa-hatasya te pratirūpaḥ sadṛśaḥ. asau jano vartate tvam ivāham api yama-daṇḍa-hata ity arthaḥ.
1 By going to see Rāma, Mārīca and Rāvaṇa were as good as struck by Yamarāja’s rod of death. In other words, they would meet certain death.
2 In that case, te with the meaning of tava would indicate that Rāvaṇa’s Mārīca was fit to be killed in the future and te with the meaning of tubhyam would indicate that Mārīca deserved to be killed in the future for the sake of Rāvaṇa, that is, in order to kill Rāvaṇa in the future. We should never forget that the omniscient Lord Rāmacandra came with a definitive mission—to fulfill the prayers of the demigods to vanquish Rāvaṇa.
In other words, like Rāvaṇa, Mārīca was also struck by Yamarāja’s rod of death.1
GLOSS. Yama-daṇḍa-hatasya and pratirūpaḥ indicate that Mārīca was fit to be struck by the rod of Yamarāja in the future.2
NOTE. The reason why no one can overcome Lord Rāma is because He is bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Prabhupāda explains the import of this expression in his purport to Bhagavad-gītā 2.2 as follows:
The Sanskrit word bhagavān is explained by the great authority Parāśara Muni, the father of Vyāsadeva. The Supreme Personality who possesses all riches, all strength, all fame, all beauty, all knowledge and all renunciation is called Bhagavān. There are many persons who are very rich, very powerful, very beautiful, very famous, very learned, and very much detached, but no one can claim that he possesses all riches, all strength, etc., entirely. Only Kṛṣṇa can claim this because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead... No one is equal to or above Him. He is the primeval Lord, or Bhagavān, known as Govinda, and He is the supreme cause of all causes:
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
“There are many personalities possessing the qualities of Bhagavān, but Kṛṣṇa is the supreme because none can excel Him. He is the Supreme Person, and His body is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. He is the primeval Lord Govinda and the cause of all causes.” (Brahma-saṁhitā 5.1)
Śrīla Prabhupāda has also specifically noted that the Supreme Personality of Godhead remains transcendental even when He descends to this material world:
When the Lord comes to this material world, He does not become a product of matter. This is confirmed throughout Bhagavad-gītā (janma-karma ca me divyam [Bg. 4.9], avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam [Bg. 9.11]). Therefore, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead—Rāma or Kṛṣṇa—descends to act transcendentally for our benefit, we should not consider Him an ordinary human being. When the Lord comes, He does so on the basis of His spiritual potency (sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā [Bg. 4.6]). Because He is not forced to come by the material energy, He is always transcendental. One should not consider the Supreme Lord an ordinary human being. Material names and forms are contaminated, but spiritual name and spiritual form are transcendental. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.2.8-9 purport)