भ्रातॄणां सङ्ग्रहार्थं च सुखार्थं चापि लक्ष्मण।
राज्यमप्यहमिच्छामि सत्येनायुधमालभे॥
bhrātṝṇāṁ saṅgrahārthaṁ ca sukhārthaṁ cāpi lakṣmaṇa
rājyam apy aham icchāmi satyenāyudham ālabhe
bhrātṝṇām = for My brothers; saṅgraha-artham = [only] to accumulate [its] wealth; ca = and; sukha-artham = to make Them happy; ca api = and so on; lakṣmaṇa = Lakṣmaṇa; rājyam api aham
icchāmi = that I desire the kingdom; satyena = truthfully promise; āyudham ālabhe = I touch My weapon.
Lakṣmaṇa, I touch My weapon and truthfully promise that I desire the kingdom [only] to accumulate [its] wealth for My brothers, to make Them happy and so on.
1 Anyone seriously desirous of liberation from material existence after understanding its miserable nature from the Vedic scriptures will not want to be associated with ruling a kingdom. As a kṣatriya, one may be obliged to rule a kingdom, but mature Vaiṣṇava kṣatriyas seriously interested in spiritual progress accept such responsibilities only to benefit others and are personally not interested in trying to enjoy wealth or women, even within the bounds of Vedic dharma.
[Rāma] wanted to accumulate [the wealth of] His kingdom to make His brothers happy, that is, to give Them whatever was desired by Them and thus make Them happy.
Api (“and so on”) indicates that [Rāma also desired] Their prosperous growth. [It also indicates that] the kingdom was [personally] not desired by Rāma since it was unfit to be accepted because of its many defects.1