पश्यतां नृपसहस्राणां बहूनां रघुनन्दन: । आरोपयत्स धर्मात्मा सलीलमिव तद्धनु:
Meaning
Virtuous Rama, the delight of the Raghus, in the presence of several thousands of men fixed the string to the bow and drew it as though with ease.
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| paśyatām nṇpa-sahasrāṇām | पश्यताम् न्ण्प-सहस्राणाम् | while thousands of kings watched | Genitive plural / Genitive plural |
| bahūnām raghu-nandanaḥ | बहूनाम् रघु-नन्दनः | many, the descendant of Raghu | Genitive plural / Nominative |
| āropayat sa dharma-ātmā | आरोपयत् स धर्म-आत्मा | strung it, he, righteous-souled | Verb (imperfect) / Nominative / Nominative |
| sa-līlam iva tat dhanuḥ | स-लीलम् इव तत् धनुः | as if playfully, that bow | Adverbial / Comparative / Accusative / Accusative |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source addresses a practical objection here, citing Kautilya's Artha Shastra for bow measurements: four aratni-s (cubits, 18 inches each) make one dhanu, so a standard bow is about 6 feet, sized to an archer's height plus his head. As Shiva's bow, this one would run 8 to 10 feet -- prompting the objection of how a boy of ordinary, 'medium' build could even reach its upper end, let alone bend it. The source resolves this by reading the poet's epithet for Rama here, mahaatmaa, 'one of unfathomable soul,' as the answer: the moment Rama touched the bow it turned pliant in his hands, and his archery is further amplified by the divine missiles Vishvamitra has already given him.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.67.16 · Bāla Kāṇḍa