यावज्जीवति काकुत्स्थः पिता मे जगतीपतिः।
शुश्रूषा क्रियतां तावत्स हि धर्मः सनातनः॥
yāvaj jīvati kākutsthaḥ pitā me jagatī-patiḥ
śuśrūṣā kriyatāṁ tāvat sa hi dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ
yāvat = as long as; jīvati = is alive; kākutsthaḥ = the descendant of Kakutstha; pitā me = My father; jagatī-patiḥ = King Daśaratha; śuśrūṣā = menially serve him; kriyatām tāvat = you should; saḥ = that; hi = for; dharmaḥ = dharma; sanātanaḥ = is your eternal.
As long as My father, King Daśaratha, the descendant of Kakutstha, is alive, you should menially serve him for that is your eternal dharma.1
1 Rāmacandra will point out time and again in this Canto that King Daśaratha was not a sinful person. Therefore, there was no question of any of his wives leaving him. And those enlightened ladies didn’t. This is a lesson for today’s womenfolk.
NOTE. Varṇāśrama-dharma is also sometimes referred to as sanātana-dharma or the eternal dharma, for instance, in the following purport to Bhagavad-gītā (1.42):
Community projects for the four orders of human society, combined with family welfare activities, as they are set forth by the institution of sanātana-dharma, or varṇāśrama-dharma, are designed to enable the human being to attain his ultimate salvation. Therefore, the breaking of the sanātana-dharma tradition by irresponsible leaders of society brings about chaos in that society, and consequently people forget the aim of life – Viṣṇu.