Meaning:
The courageous Raaman (vIra:) lost control over His mind for a moment (ceta: vilayam muhUrtam agamat) after seeing the Raaja Hamsam. What led to that? The gait of the Swan reminded Him of SitA Devi’s gait (SitA gatim anugate). It had a sweet voice that reminded Him of the delectable sound arising from the nUpuram (ankle AbharaNam) of His PirATTi (tat manjIra pratima ninade). The Swan also looked like the art work of swan embroidered on to the silk vastram of His PirATTi (tat dukUla anka mUrtau). All of these similarities led to intense cintanai about His PirATTi and SrI Raaman became totally attuned to the Swan in front of Him ; He gazed at the Swan without blinking His eyes and lost control over His mind for a short time. He was a courageous man and yet the suffering from His viraha tApam overcame Him, when the various similarities between the Swan and His PirATTi reminded Him of His far away Devi. Swamy Desikan acknowledges the power of Manmathan with the flag of Fish (mIna keto:) at the appropriate time (samaye). Manmathan’s commands become hard to jump over (mIna keto: SAsanam tIvram bhavati).
English Commentary by Sri Oppiliappan Sadagopan
Courtesy: Smt Jayanthi Sridharan (Carnatic vocalist)
