Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 64: Rāma Discovers Some Clues About Sītā’s Whereabouts
Text 3.64.21
तेषां वचनसर्वस्वं लक्षयामास चेङ्गितम्।
उवाच लक्ष्मणो ज्येष्ठं धीमान्भ्रातरमार्तवत्॥
teṣāṁ vacana-sarvasvaṁ lakṣayām āsa ceṅgitam
uvāca lakṣmaṇo jyeṣṭhaṁ dhīmān bhrātaram ārtavat
teṣām = of their; vacana-sarvasvam = all words; lakṣayām āsa = understood; ca = and; iṅgitam = conveyed through gestures; uvāca = spoke; lakṣmaṇaḥ = Lakṣmaṇa; jyeṣṭham = to His elder; dhīmān = intelligent; bhrātaram = brother; ārtavat = [the following] words of distress.
Intelligent Lakṣmaṇa understood all of their words conveyed through gestures and spoke to His elder brother [the following] words of distress.
That “Lakṣmaṇa understood all of their words conveyed through gestures” means “Lakṣmaṇa understood their gestures that were as good as all of their words [if they could have articulated words].”