सोहं गृहीत्वा नियमं तपस्विजनभूषणम्।
हितकामः पितुर्भूयः सीताया लक्ष्मणस्य च।
जटाः कृत्वा गमिष्यामि न्यग्रोधक्षीरमानय॥
so ’haṁ gṛhītvā niyamaṁ tapasvi-jana-bhūṣaṇam
hita-kāmaḥ pitur bhūyaḥ sītāyā lakṣmaṇasya ca
jaṭāḥ kṛtvā gamiṣyāmi nyagrodha-kṣīram ānaya
saḥ aham = I; gṛhītvā = accepting; niyamam = the regulations; tapasvi-jana-bhūṣaṇam = that decorate ascetics; hita-kāmaḥ = desiring benefits; pituḥ = for My father; bhūyaḥ = further; sītāyāḥ = Sītā; lakṣmaṇasya = Lakṣmaṇa; ca = and; jaṭāḥ kṛtvā = will tie up My hair into a knot and; gamiṣyāmi = go; nyagrodha-kṣīram = the milk of the fig tree for this purpose; ānaya = bring.
Accepting the regulations that decorate ascetics, desiring further benefits for My father, Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa, I will tie up My hair into a knot and go. Bring the milk of the fig tree for this purpose.
1 They help them in their sādhana for spiritual realization. Sleeping on the ground indicates that they do not use cots.
2 This is to teach us that asceticism is for enhancing one’s next life, while being indifferent to the pleasures and displeasures of this life.
3 It is well known amongst those who follow the Vedic scriptures that all bona fide austerities performed by a dhārmika husband will yield benefits to himself and his wife.
4 If a married man accepts the bona fide activities of sādhana-bhakti according to the scriptures, his wife is also benefitted by her absolute chastity, assistance and obedience to his instructions. His subordinates’ permitting such activities also benefit them.
Saḥ indicates that Rāma had been ordered by Kaikeyī:
sapta sapta ca varṣāṇi daṇḍakāraṇyam āśritaḥ
abhiṣekam imaṁ tyaktvā jaṭājinadharo vasa
“Having given up this coronation [of Yours], with matted hair and deer skin, go to Daṇḍakāraṇya and be there for fourteen years.” (Rāmāyaṇa 2.18.37)
The regulations that decorate the ascetics such as sleeping on the ground enhance them.1
“Further benefits” here refer to the abundance of piety for a beneficial next life.2 Though Rāma’s knotting up His hair didn’t please Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa, it was done by Him for their benefit since they would also attain much piety because by Rāma’s activity of knotting up His hair, His wedded companion in dharma Sītā-devī would automatically attain piety.3 And Lakṣmaṇa’s permitting Rāma to do so granted Him piety.4 Hita-kāmaḥ also indicates that Rāma didn’t desire to please them—He just wanted to benefit them—by this particular activity.