विष्टिकर्मान्तिकाः सर्वे मार्गशोधकरक्षकाः।
प्रस्थापिता मया पूर्वं यात्रापि मम रोचते॥
viṣṭi-karmāntikāḥ sarve mārga-śodhaka-rakṣakāḥ
prasthāpitā mayā pūrvaṁ yātrāpi mama rocate
viṣṭi-karmāntikāḥ = unsalaried country workers and salaried workers; sarve = all; mārga-śodhaka-rakṣakāḥ = to guard those who clear the route; prasthāpitāḥ = have dispatched; mayā = I; pūrvam = already; yātrā api = to embark on this journey [immediately]; mama = and I am; rocate = eager.
I have already dispatched all unsalaried country workers and salaried workers to guard those who clear the route, and I am eager to embark on this journey [immediately].1
1 Why did Bharata arrange for having the route cleared? So that His army and the residents of Ayodhyā can accompany Him to meet Rāma. And why was this difficult work needed? Why couldn’t He alone go in a single chariot, just as Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā-devī had gone? To convince Śrī Rāmacandra that He was not alone in His decision that Rāma should rule the kingdom and that the entire kingdom wanted Him to rule the kingdom. Bharata thought that Lord Rāma is most affectionate to His great devotees and there was a good chance that He might listen to them, if not to Bharata. This will become clear in the upcoming chapters.
Therefore it can be inferred that Vasiṣṭha proposed the coronation [of Bharata] without knowing that Bharata had ordered that campsites [on the route to the forest to meet Rāma] be set up.
GLOSS. Viṣṭi indicates that unsalaried workers who were only given food supplies [had been dispatched].