स तु दृष्ट्वा रूदन्दीनः पपात धरणीतले।
उत्थाप्यमानः शक्रस्य यन्त्रध्वज इव च्युतः॥
अभिपेतुस्ततः सर्वे तस्यामात्याः शुचिव्रतम्।
अन्तकाले निपतितं ययातिमृषयो यथा॥
sa tu dṛṣṭvā rudan dīnaḥ papāta dharaṇī-tale
utthāpyamānaḥ śakrasya yantra-dhvaja iva cyutaḥ
abhipetus tataḥ sarve tasyāmātyāḥ śuci-vratam
anta-kāle nipatitaṁ yayātim ṛṣayo yathā
saḥ tu = He; dṛṣṭvā = upon seeing [His father’s ashes]; rudan = while crying; dīnaḥ = became morose; papāta = He fell; dharaṇī-tale = on the ground; utthāpyamānaḥ = being made to stand; śakrasya yantra-dhvajaḥ = an indra-dhvaja tied to a device; iva = just as; cyutaḥ = falls [to the ground despite]; abhipetuḥ = approached Him; tataḥ = then; sarve = all; tasya = of His; amātyāḥ = relatives; śuci-vratam = of pure vows; anta-kāle = when his piety was lost; nipatitam = [when] he had fallen down; yayātim = [had approached] Yayāti; ṛṣayaḥ = sages; yathā = just as.
He became morose upon seeing [His father’s ashes]. While crying, He fell on the ground just as an indra-dhvaja tied to a device falls [to the ground despite] being made to stand. All of His relatives then approached Him just as sages [had approached] Yayāti of pure vows [when] he had fallen down when his piety was lost.
Bharata resembled an indra-dhvaja tied to a device that had fallen down like an indra-dhvaja tied by ropes. When the device falls off, the flag-post falls off. Likewise, when the king fell, Bharata also fell. This is the implication here.
The sages who had approached Yayāti were the sons of his daughter [Mādhavī].1
NOTE. See note to text 2.74.36 for information about indra-dhvaja.
1. This incident is described in the Ādi-parva of Mahābhārata.