यदर्थं प्रतिषेधो मे क्रियते गन्तुमिच्छतः।
एतदिच्छामि विज्ञातुं संशयो हि ममानघ॥
yad-arthaṁ pratiṣedho me kriyate gantum icchataḥ
etad icchāmi vijñātuṁ saṁśayo hi mamānagha
yat-artham = why; pratiṣedhaḥ me kriyate = I am being restrained; gantum = to go [with You]; icchataḥ = [though] I want; etat1 icchāmi = I want; vijñātum = to know; saṁśayaḥ = a doubt [about it]; hi = because; mama = I have; anagha = O sinless one.
O sinless one, I want to know why I am being restrained [though] I want to go [with You] because I have a doubt [about it].
1 Technical note: yat-artham pratiṣedhaḥ kriyate etat vijñātum icchāmi.
1 As per the verses quoted in the commentary to the previous text, Lakṣmaṇa had been permitted to accompany Rāma all the way till the events described in Chapter 26 unfolded. And here in Chapter 31, we see Rāmacandra restraining Lakṣmaṇa. What had happened in the meanwhile that Rāma decided to prevent Lakṣmaṇa from accompanying Him? Did He commit an offense? This was what Lakṣmaṇa had in His mind. This is a lesson for all of us that if we commit any offense (nāmāparādha or sevāparādha), we will be prevented by the Lord Himself from engaging in further services to Him. Those engaged in devotional service to the Lord with a desire to come to the point of exclusively serving Him like Lakṣmaṇa and His liberated followers can take note of this.
Lakṣmaṇa’s doubt was whether He had committed any offense then because of which Rāma restrained Him [from coming to the forest to serve Him] even though Rāma had Himself permitted Him earlier on.1