यदि शूर्पणखाहेतोर्जनस्थानगतः खरः।
अतिवृत्तो हतः पूर्वं रामेणाक्लिष्टकर्मणा॥
अत्र ब्रूहि यथातत्त्वं को रामस्य व्यतिक्रमः।
यस्य त्वं लोकनाथस्य भार्यां हृत्वा गमिष्यसि॥
yadi śūrpaṇakhā-hetor janasthāna-gataḥ kharaḥ
ativṛtto hataḥ pūrvaṁ rāmeṇākliṣṭa-karmaṇā
atra brūhi yathā-tattvaṁ ko rāmasya vyatikramaḥ
yasya tvaṁ loka-nāthasya bhāryāṁ hṛtvā gamiṣyasi
yadi = if; śūrpaṇakhā-hetoḥ = for the sake of Śūrpaṇakhā; janasthāna-gataḥ = in Janasthāna; kharaḥ = Khara; ativṛttaḥ = who had transgressed his limits; hataḥ = was killed; pūrvam = previously; rāmeṇa = by Rāma; akliṣṭa-karmaṇā = who is unwearied in action; atra = in killing [him]; brūhi = tell [me]; yathā-tattvam = the truth; kaḥ = what; rāmasya = is Rāma’s; vyatikramaḥ = transgression; yasya = of that; tvam = [for which] you; loka-nāthasya = Lord of the worlds; bhāryām = the wife; hṛtvā gamiṣyasi = have abducted.
If Khara, who had transgressed his limits in Janasthāna for the sake of Śūrpaṇakhā, was previously killed by Rāma who is unwearied in action, what is Rāma’s transgression in killing [him for which] you have abducted the wife of that Lord of the worlds? Tell [me] the truth.
In the next verse, Jaṭāyu comes back to his original point of discussion.