तं शब्दमवसुप्तस्तु जटायुरथ शुश्रुवे।
निरीक्ष्य रावणं क्षिप्रं वैदेहीं च ददर्श सः॥
taṁ śabdam avasuptas tu jaṭāyur atha śuśruve
nirīkṣya rāvaṇaṁ kṣipraṁ vaidehīṁ ca dadarśa saḥ
tam = the; śabdam = sound; avasuptaḥ tu = had been slightly asleep; jaṭāyuḥ = Jaṭāyu; atha śuśruve = when he heard; nirīkṣya = saw; rāvaṇam = Rāvaṇa; kṣipram = quickly; vaidehīm = Vaidehī; ca = and; dadarśa = noticed; saḥ = he.
Jaṭāyu had been slightly asleep. When he heard the sound, he quickly saw Rāvaṇa and noticed Vaidehī.
1 “The servant” refers to the living entity, and “his master” refers to Lord Viṣṇu. In other words, the living entity who is an eternal servant of Lord Viṣṇu must serve Him to the best of his ability. The living entity is eternally and constitutionally a servant of Lord Hari and never ever is he eternally and constitutionally a servant of anyone else. The Padma Purāṇa confirms: dāsa-bhūto harer eva nānyasyaiva kadācana.
2 Jaṭāyu appeased and criticized Rāvaṇa to make him favorable to the idea of giving up Sītā.
The servant must serve his master to the best of his ability.1 In order to spread this teaching in the world, the author then presents the activities of Jaṭāyu in two chapters. In the first chapter, he states that Jaṭāyu appeased and criticized Rāvaṇa to make him favorable.2
Jaṭāyu first saw Rāvaṇa because Rāvaṇa had a large body.