बद्धस्त्वं कालपाशेन क्व गतस्तस्य मोक्ष्यसे।
वधाय बडिशं गृह्य सामिषं जलजो यथा॥
baddhas tvaṁ kāla-pāśena kva gatas tasya mokṣyase
vadhāya baḍiśaṁ gṛhya sāmiṣaṁ jalajo yathā
baddhaḥ = are caught; tvam = you; kāla-pāśena = in the noose of death; kva = to which place; gataḥ = can you go; tasya = from it; mokṣyase = in order to be released; vadhāya = just to be killed; baḍiśam = a bait; gṛhya = that has caught; sa-āmiṣam = with a piece of meat; jalajaḥ = a fish; yathā = [you are] like.
You are caught in the noose of death. To which place can you go in order to be released from it?1 [You are] like a fish that has caught a bait with a piece of meat just to be killed.
1 We will learn from the Seventh Canto (Uttara-kāṇḍa) that it is Vedavatī who appeared as Sītā so that she would be kidnapped so that Rāvaṇa and his entire dynasty of demoniac followers would be destroyed lock, stock and barrel. From the Purāṇas, we understand that she appeared as Māyā Sītā. The great sage Śrī Vālmīki teaches us through this episode that when we try to play smart with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we will lose hands down.
Baḍiśam (“a bait”) refers to a bait to catch fish 2. A fish that has caught a bait with a piece of meat, because of its greed for the meat, cannot live even if it is taken to another place.