धर्मज्ञ यदि धर्मिष्ठो धर्मं चरितुमिच्छसि।
शुश्रूष मामिहस्थस्त्वं चर धर्ममनुत्तमम्॥
dharmajña yadi dharmiṣṭho dharmaṁ caritum icchasi
śuśrūṣa mām ihasthas tvaṁ cara dharmam anuttamam
dharmajña = O knower of dharma; yadi = if; dharmiṣṭhaḥ = being fixed in dharma; dharmam = dharma; caritum = to carry out; icchasi = want; śuśrūṣa = serve; mām = me; ihasthaḥ = while staying here; tvam = You; cara = carry out; dharmam = dharma; anuttamam = this supreme.
O knower of dharma, if You, being fixed in dharma, want to carry out dharma, serve me while staying here. Carry out this supreme dharma.
1 It is implicit that all the gurus including one’s mother are within the boundaries of Vedic dharma. But what if one’s father and mother give opposing instructions, like here to Lord Rāma? Let us see how the Lord solves this puzzle. He will also teach us how to deal with such situations
Kausalyā spoke this verse while remembering the instruction in Yājñavalkya-smṛti (1.35)—ebhyo mātā garīyasī: “Among all of one’s gurus, one’s mother is the supreme guru.”1