पृष्ठतोऽहं गमिष्यामि त्वां च सीतां च पालयन्।
अन्योन्यस्येह नो रक्षा कर्तव्या पुरुषर्षभ॥
न हि तावदतिक्रान्ता सुकरा काचन क्रिया।
अद्य दुःखं तु वैदेही वनवासस्य वेत्स्यति॥
pṛṣṭhato ’haṁ gamiṣyāmi tvāṁ ca sītāṁ ca pālayan
anyonyasyeha no rakṣā kartavyā puruṣa-rṣabha
na hi tāvad atikrāntā sukarā kācana kriya
adya duḥkhaṁ tu vaidehī vana-vāsasya vetsyati
pṛṣṭhataḥ = behind; aham = I; gamiṣyāmi = will come; tvām ca = You; sītām = Sītā; ca = and; pālayan = protecting; anyonyasya = each other; iha = here; naḥ rakṣā kartavyā = We should protect 7; puruṣa-rṣabha = O prince; na hi tāvat = not so; atikrāntā = so far; sukarā = were easy; kācana kriyā = some of the things we did ; adya = today; duḥkham tu = the distress; vaidehī = Vaidehī; vana-vāsasya = of residing in the forest; vetsyati = will understand.
I will come behind, protecting You and Sītā. O prince, We should fully protect each other here. Some of the things we did so far were not so easy. Today Vaidehī will understand the distress of residing in the forest.
GLOSS. [Rāma intends to tell Lakṣmaṇa,] “Protect Sītā as a service to her.”
In text 97, Śrī Rāmacandra expresses the reason for firmly endeavoring here. “Some of the things we did so far were not easy” means “We cannot face [those circumstances] again.” He implies that they should be attentive from then on.