असकृत्संयुगे येन निहता देवदानवाः।
नचिराच्चीरवासास्त्वां रामो युधि वधिष्यति॥
asakṛt saṁyuge yena nihatā deva-dānavāḥ
na cirāc cīra-vāsās tvāṁ rāmo yudhi vadhiṣyati
asakṛt = always; saṁyuge = in battle; yena nihatāḥ = who has slain; deva-dānavāḥ = devas and dānavas; na cirāt = without delay; cīra-vāsāḥ = [though] clad in clothes made of bark; tvām = you; rāmaḥ = Śrī Rāma; yudhi = in battle; vadhiṣyati = will slay.
[Though] clad in clothes made of bark, Śrī Rāma, who has always slain devas and dānavas in battle, will slay you in battle without delay.
1 The quote in brackets appears in Jitante Stotra (4.2). Jaṭāyu’s point is that Lord Rāmacandra is none other than Lord Viṣṇu who has repeatedly subdued the devas and dānavas. Though the devas are Vaiṣṇavas, sometimes they are bewildered and they quarrel with the Lord—and naturally lose. For instance, Indra opposed Lord Kṛṣṇa twice in kṛṣṇa-līlā, once when the Lord stopped the Indra-pūjā and later when He took the pārijāta for Satyabhāmā-devī. See Chapters 24-27 and 59 of Prabhupāda’s Kṛṣṇa: The Supreme Personality of Godhead for more details.
Not only would Rāvaṇa be avenged for offending Rāma, he would also be avenged for offending those who belong to Rāma because He is the common superintending deity for the devas and dānavas (devānāṁ dānavānāṁ ca sāmānyam adhidaivatam).1
When Rāvaṇa fled despite being told this, Jaṭāyu spoke the follow-ing verse.
GLOSS. “Without delay” means “within a short period of time.”