अस्मिन्कुले हि पूर्वेषां ज्येष्ठो राज्येऽभिषिच्यते।
अपरे भ्रातरस्तस्मिन्प्रवर्तन्ते समाहिताः॥
asmin kule hi pūrveṣāṁ jyeṣṭho rājye ’bhiṣicyate
apare bhrātaras tasmin pravartante samāhitāḥ
asmin = in this; kule hi = dynasty; pūrveṣām = by our predecessors; jyeṣṭhaḥ = the eldest son; rājye = to rule over the kingdom; abhiṣicyate = has [always] been coronated; apare = [and] the other; bhrātaraḥ = brothers; tasmin = him; pravartante = serve; samāhitāḥ = attentively.
In this dynasty, the eldest son has [always] been coronated by our predecessors to rule over the kingdom [and] the other brothers attentively serve him.
1 Here is clear evidence that birth is certainly not the highest consideration for receiving the highest form of respect.
2 That this is referring to Svāyambhuva Manu, the direct son of Lord Brahmā, is explicit in the section of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that describes the activities of Manu in its Third Canto.
“The other brothers attentively serve him” means “His younger brothers live while attentively serving him as if he was their father.” Manu says:
jyeṣṭha eva tu gṛhṇīyāt pitryaṁ dhanam aśeṣataḥ
śeṣās tam upajīveyur yathaiva pitaraṁ tathā
“But the eldest son should take the entire paternal property. The remaining [brothers] should live as his dependants as if he is their father.” (Manu-smṛti 9.109)
NOTE. The Manu-smṛti (9.108-110) also notes:
piteva pālayet putrāñ jyeṣṭho bhrātā yavīyasaḥ
putravac cāpi varterañ jyeṣṭhe bhrātari dharmataḥ
“In accordance with dharma, the eldest brother should protect his younger brothers like a father and they should behave towards their eldest brother like sons.”
jyeṣṭhaḥ kulaṁ vardhayati vināśayati vā punaḥ
jyeṣṭhaḥ pūjyatamo loke jyeṣṭhaḥ sadbhir agarhitaḥ
“The eldest brother enhances the dynasty or ruins it. The eldest brother is most worshipped in the world [by the civilized] and the eldest brother is never disrespected by the good.”
yo jyeṣṭho jyeṣṭha-vṛttiḥ syān māteva sa piteva saḥ
ajyeṣṭha-vṛttir yas tu syāt sa sampūjyas tu bandhuvat
“When the eldest brother behaves the way an eldest brother should, he is like a mother and a father [to his younger brothers]. But when he does not behave the way an eldest brother should, he should be properly honored as a [mere] relative.”1
We should note that, unlike what is imagined by academic scholars of today, Manu-smṛti was presented by Svāyambhuva Manu who came a long time before the kings of the Ikṣvāku dynasty:
yaḥ pṛṣṭo munibhiḥ prāha dharmān nānā-vidhāñ chubhān
nṛṇāṁ varṇāśramāṇāṁ ca sarva-bhūta-hitaḥ sadā
“In reply to questions asked by certain sages, Svāyambhuva Manu, out of compassion for all living entities, taught the diverse sacred duties of men in general and the different varṇas and āśramas.”2 (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.22.38)
And so Bharata was shocked that His mother had dared to oppose a very well established principle presented by none other than the first Manu himself.