भरतस्य वचः कुर्वन्याचमानस्य राघव।
आत्मानं नातिवर्तेस्त्वं सत्यधर्मपराक्रम॥
bharatasya vacaḥ kurvan yācamānasya rāghava
ātmānaṁ nātivartes tvaṁ satya-dharma-parākrama
bharatasya = of Bharata; vacaḥ = the request; kurvan = by carrying out; yācamānasya = who has been begging You; rāghava = O Rāghava; ātmānam = Your very self; na ativarteḥ = You will not transgress; tvam = You are; satya-dharma-parākrama = heroically engaged in truthfulness and dharma.
O Rāghava, You are heroically engaged in truthfulness and dharma. By carrying out the request of Bharata who has been begging You, You will not transgress Your very self.1
1 As we will notice, Rāmacandra does accept Vasiṣṭha’s request, without bypassing His father’s instruction.
1 Meaning Rāma’s great object of affection. In Bhagavad-gītā 7.18, Lord Kṛṣṇa states that He considers one in knowledge of his relationship with Him to be His very self (jñānī tv ātmaiva me matam). It means that an enlightened devotee of Kṛṣṇa is His great object of love.
Bharata had been begging Rāma thus:
sāntvitā māmikā mātā dattaṁ rājyam idaṁ mama
tad dadāmi tavaivāhaṁ bhuṅkṣva rājyam akaṇṭakam
“My mother is now pacified that this kingdom has been given to me. I am now giving it, which is berefr of thorns, to You. Enjoy it!” (Rāmāyaṇa 2.105.4)
Because Rāma was broadminded, He had accepted Bharata as His very self. Vasiṣṭha did not want Rāma to transgress Bharata, Rāma’s very self.1
Some state that Rāma’s very self is His nature of being immersed in truthfulness and dharma. The ācāryas state that the dharma here refers to His unique dharma of sheltering His dependent devotees.
By referring to Lord Rāma as satya-dharma-parākrama, Vasiṣṭha indicates that just as He never transgresses His principle of truthfulness and dharma, He should not transgress His principle of sheltering His unique devotees.