आए देखि दूत, सुनि सोच सठ-मनमैं। बाहर बजावै गाल, भालु कपि कालबस। मोसे बीरसों चहत जीत्यो रारि रनमैं॥ १ ॥ राम छाम, लरिका लषन, बालि-बालकहि, घालिको गनत? रीछ जल ज्यों न घनमैं। काजको न कपिराज, कायर कपिसमाज, मेरे अनुमान हनुमान हरिगनमैं॥ २ ॥ समय सयानी मृदु बानी रानी कहै पिय! पावक न होइ जातुधान बेनु-बनमैं। तुलसी जानकी दिए, स्वामीसों सनेह किये कुसल, नतरु सब ह्वै छार छनमैं॥ ३ ॥
The spies returned after seeing the army. Hearing them, the fool concealed his worry and boasted aloud: “The bears and monkeys, subject to Time, wish to fight and defeat a hero like me in battle! (1) Rāma is emaciated, Lakṣmaṇa a mere boy; who counts the destroyer’s son Aṅgada? Jāmbavān is like a cloud without water. The monkey king is useless and the monkey host cowardly; among them, by my reckoning, Hanumān alone is a hero.” (2) Wise to the moment, the queen spoke gently: “Beloved, do not become a fire in the bamboo forest of the demon race. Tulsī says safety lies in returning Jānakī and loving the Lord; otherwise all will become ashes in an instant.” (3)