अथ भूमिप्रदेशज्ञाः सूत्रकर्मविशारदाः।
स्वकर्माभिरताः शूराः खनका यन्त्रकास्तथा॥
कर्मान्तिकाः स्थपतयः पुरुषा यन्त्रकोविदाः।
तथा वर्धकयश्चैव मार्गिणो वृक्षतक्षकाः॥
कूपकाराः सुधाकारा वंशकर्मकृतस्तथा।
समर्था ये च द्रष्टारः पुरतस्ते प्रतस्थिरे।।
atha bhūmi-pradeśajñāḥ sūtra-karma-viśāradāḥ
sva-karmābhiratāḥ śūrāḥ khanakā yantrakās tathā
karmāntikāḥ sthapatayaḥ puruṣā yantra-kovidāḥ
tathā vardhakayaś caiva mārgiṇo vṛkṣa-takṣakāḥ
kūpakārāḥ sudhākārā vaṁśa-karma-kṛtas tathā
samarthā ye ca draṣṭāraḥ puratas te pratasthire
atha = then; bhūmi-pradeśajñāḥ = land experts; sūtra-karma-viśāradāḥ = capable weavers; sva-karma-abhiratāḥ = attentive to their particular tasks pertaining to conserving the routes and so on; śūrāḥ = courageous men; khanakāḥ = professional excavators; yantrakāḥ = yantrakas; tathā karmāntikāḥ = laborers; sthapatayaḥ = artisans 1; puruṣāḥ = governmental supervisors; yantra-kovidāḥ = men expert in slings and the like; tathā vardhakayaḥ = carpenters 2; ca eva mārgiṇaḥ = land-levelers; vṛkṣa-takṣakāḥ = wood-fellers; kūpakārāḥ = well-digging experts; sudhākārāḥ = plasterers; vaṁśa-karma-kṛtaḥ = bamboo workers; tathā samarthāḥ ye = men expert in other works; ca = and; draṣṭāraḥ = route guides; purataḥ = ahead; te = those who were; pratasthire = went.
Then those who were land experts, capable weavers, courageous men attentive to their particular tasks pertaining to conserving the routes and so on, professional excavators, yantrakas, laborers, artisans, governmental supervisors, men expert in slings and the like, carpenters, land-levelers, wood-fellers, well-digging experts, plasterers, bamboo workers, men expert in other works and route guides went ahead.
1 There is a reason for this arrangement. Bharata wanted to go and meet Rāma officially and this necessitated bringing in the fourfold army. It is one thing to travel alone with a few persons and something else to travel with a huge army.
“Land experts” refers to those who were aware of which places were low and which were high and those who knew about various lands. Professional excavators were those who build tunnels and so on. Yantrakas create minor devices to help set up stones and the like to cross over large streams and so on. The laborers were hired for project works; these were professional workers. The wood-fellers were those who felled trees that obstructed the route. The plasterers were involved in plastering the palace floors and so on. Bamboo workers made mats, boxes, baskets and so on from bamboos. The route guides were aware of the routes [to be taken].1
GLOSS. [The glossator reads sūtra-karṇa-viśāradāḥ instead of sūtra-karma-viśāradāḥ indicating that] road levellers went ahead [too].