एकमेकायने दुर्गे निःश्वसन्तं कथञ्चन।
समीक्ष्य दुःखिततरो रामः सौमित्रिमब्रवीत्॥
ekam ekāyane durge niḥśvasantaṁ kathañcana
samīkṣya duḥkhitataro rāmaḥ saumitrim abravīt
ekam = the vulture was alone; eka-ayane = on a narrow footpath 2; durge = that was difficult to pass through; niḥśvasantam = the king of vultures was [still] breathing; kathañcana = somehow or other; samīkṣya = upon seeing him; duḥkhitataraḥ = became more distressed; rāmaḥ = Rāma; saumitrim = Saumitri; abravīt = and told [the following].
The vulture was alone on a narrow footpath that was difficult to pass through.1 Somehow or other, the king of vultures was [still] breathing. Upon seeing him, Rāma became more distressed and told Saumitri [the following].
1 Ekāyane (“on a narrow footpath”) literally means “on a footpath fit for a single person.” Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: ekāyane ekasya mārge . . . eka-padyām ity arthaḥ.
The vulture was alone, that is, he had no one to assist him; there was no compassionate traveler to protect him. [The Lord] was also in distress [about Jaṭāyu] because [he had fallen on a narrow footpath] through which one couldn’t move further.
NOTE. Jaṭāyu fought with Rāvaṇa and lost. Yet, Lord Rāma was pleased with Jaṭāyu’s selfless endeavor to serve Sītā-Rāma. That endeavor is a clear sign of his pure devotional service to the Supreme Lord. Prabhupāda explains the nature of such pure bhakti in his purport to Bhagavad-gītā 2.38 thus:
There is no consideration of happiness or distress, profit or loss, victory or defeat in the activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That everything should be performed for the sake of Kṛṣṇa is transcendental consciousness; so there is no reaction to material activities. He who acts for his own sense gratification, either in goodness or in passion, is subject to the reaction, good or bad. But he who has completely surrendered himself in the activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is no longer obliged to anyone, nor is he a debtor to anyone, as one is in the ordinary course of activities. It is said:
devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṝṇāṁ
na kiṅkaro nāyam ṛṇī ca rājan
sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyaṁ
gato mukundaṁ parihṛtya kartam
“Anyone who has completely surrendered unto Kṛṣṇa, Mukunda, giving up all other duties, is no longer a debtor, nor is he obliged to anyone—not the demigods, nor the sages, nor the people in general, nor kinsmen, nor humanity, nor forefathers.” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.5.41)