“Stay,” cried the king, “thy chariot stay:” “On, on,” cried Ráma, “speed away.” As one between two hosts, inclined To neither was Sumantra’s mind. But Ráma spake these words again: “A lengthened woe is bitterest pain.

In plain words: The king shouts for the chariot to stop, while Rama shouts for it to go on. Sumantra is torn between the two. Rama says a long, drawn-out sorrow is the worst pain.