स ब्राह्मणस्याश्रममभ्युपेत्य महात्मनो देवपुरोहितस्य।
ददर्श रम्योटजवृक्षषण्डं महद्वनं विप्रवरस्य रम्यम्॥
sa brāhmaṇasyāśramam abhyupetya
mahātmano deva-purohitasya
dadarśa ramyoṭaja-vṛkṣa-ṣaṇḍaṁ
mahad vanaṁ vipra-varasya ramyam
saḥ = Bharata; brāhmaṇasya = of that brāhmaṇa; āśramam = the āśrama; abhyupetya = having reached; mahā-ātmanaḥ = greatly learned; deva-purohitasya = who was the priest of the devas; dadarśa = saw; ramya-uṭaja-vṛkṣa-ṣaṇḍam = filled with a multitude of pleasant thatched huts and trees; mahat = great; vanam = forest [nearby]; vipra-varasya = and who was the best of the vipras; ramyam = a naturally beautiful.
Having reached the āśrama of that greatly learned brāhmaṇa who was the priest of the devas and who was the best of the vipras, Bharata saw a naturally beautiful great forest [nearby] filled with a multitude of pleasant thatched huts and trees.
[1] pratyūṣo ’har-mukhaṁ kālyam (Amara).
[2] yāvat tāvac ca sākalye (Amara).
[3] bahu-mūlyaṁ mahā-dhanam (Amara).
[4] kāṇḍo ’strī daṇḍa-bāṇārvavargāvasara-vāriṣu (Amara).
[5] dve tu nāḍyau muhūrto ’strī (Vaijayantī). raudraḥ sārpas tathā maitraḥ paitro vāsava eva ca / āpyo vaiśvas tathā brāhma-prājeśaindrās tathaiva ca; aindrāgnor nairṛtaś caiva vāruṇāryamo bhagī / ete ’hni kramaśo jñeyā muhūrtā daśa pañca ca (Bṛhaspati).
[6] tuṣṇīm arthe sukhe josām (Vaijayantī).
[7] bharadvājo ha tribhir āyurbhir brahmacaryam uvāsa tāṁ ha jīrṇaṁ sthaviraṁ śayānam... (Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa).
[8] bṛhato bharadvājaḥ.
[9] bharadvāja yat te caturtham āyur dadyāṃ kim enena kuryā iti. brahmacaryam evainena careyam iti hovāca. (Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa)
Brāhmaṇasya indicates that Bharadvāja had studied several Vedic scriptures as stated [in the Śruti]: bharadvājo ha tribhir āyurbhir brahmacaryam uvāsa. It also indicates that He was in knowledge of Brahman, that is, the Supreme Soul [Nārāyaṇa]. From a later chapter, it is understood that he was capable of calling for [and receiving] any item by the force of his samādhi. [He was a brāhmaṇa in that sense too.] According to the Śruti, Bṛhaspati is referred to as brahman (brahma bṛhaspatiḥ) and so his son is referred to as brāhmaṇa, [literally meaning “son of Bṛhaspati”].
Mahātmanasya indicates that Bharadvāja had inconceivable potency.
Vipra-varasya (“the best of the vipras”) indicates that he had completed his study of the boundless Vedic scriptures. In this regard, the Smṛti contains statements such as the following:
janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ karmaṇā jāyate dvijaḥ
vedābhyāsena vipratvaṁ brahma jānāti brāhmaṇaḥ
“One is born as a śūdra. By [appropriate] activity, he becomes a twice-born. By repeated study of the Vedas, he becomes a vipra and [when he] knows Brahman, he becomes a brāhmaṇa.”
And the Śruti points out that Bharadvāja had completed his study of the boundless Vedic scriptures 9.
Bharadvāja was the priest of the devas for he was the son of Bṛhaspati [who is the priest of the devas] on the logic of [a son representing his father]: ātmā vai putra-nāmāsi. It is well known from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (9.20.36-39) that Bharadvāja was born from Bṛhaspati and Utathya’s wife Mamatā.
Ramyoṭaja-vṛkṣa-ṣaṇḍam indicates that the leaf-hut cottage was pleasant and that it was next to the trees. The forest was great, that is, large enough to accommodate Bharata’s army.