देवतानां पितॄणां च मातापित्रोस्तथैव च।
मा स्म कार्षीत्स शुश्रूषां यस्यार्योऽनुमते गतः॥
devatānāṁ pitṝṇāṁ ca mātā-pitros tathaiva ca
mā sma kārṣīt sa śuśrūṣāṁ yasyāryo ’numate gataḥ
devatānām = of the devas; pitṝṇām ca = his pious forefathers; mātā-pitroḥ = parents; tathā eva ca = and; mā sma = never; kārṣīt = may engage; saḥ = he; śuśrūṣām = in the service; yasya = whose; āryaḥ = noble Rāma; anumate = with consent; gataḥ = has departed [to the forest].
May he with whose consent noble Rāma has departed [to the forest] never engage in the service of the devas, his pious forefathers and parents.1
1 As noted in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.5.41, unless one is exclusively engaged twenty-four hours a day in one or more of the sixty-four items of sādhana-bhakti under the guidance of a genuine spiritual master with the desire to become liberated from material existence or to attain love of Godhead, a man is duty-bound to serve the devas, his pious forefathers and parents. Still the standard restrictions for Kali-yuga such as avoidance of meat, even when offered in sacrifices, apply.
Service to the devas refers to pleasing them by performing agnihotra fire sacrifices and the like with sacrificial ingredients. Service to one’s pious forefathers refers to worshiping them on eclipses, death anniversaries of one’s parents and so on with sacrificial ingredients, oil and so on. Service to one’s departed parents is subsumed under service to one’s pious forefathers. The service to one’s parents referred to in this verse refers to serving them while they are alive.