भरद्वाजाश्रमं दृष्ट्वा क्रोशादेव नरर्षभः।
बलं सर्वमवस्थाप्य जगाम सह मन्त्रिभिः॥
पद्भ्यामेव हि धर्मज्ञो न्यस्तशस्त्रपरिच्छदः।
वसानो वाससी क्षौमे पुरोधाय पुरोधसम्॥
bharadvājāśramaṁ dṛṣṭvā krośād eva nara-rṣabhaḥ
balaṁ sarvam avasthāpya jagāma saha mantribhiḥ
padbhyām eva hi dharmajño nyasta-śastra-paricchadaḥ
vasāno vāsasī kṣaume purodhāya purodhasam
bharadvāja-āśramam = Bharadvāja’s āśrama; dṛṣṭvā = upon seeing; krośāt eva = one krośa from the āśrama; nara-ṛṣabhaḥ = Prince Bharata; balam = army; sarvam = His entire; avasthāpya = He placed; jagāma = and departed; saha mantribhiḥ = with His ministers; padbhyām eva hi = on foot; dharmajñaḥ = who knew dharma; nyasta-śastra-paricchadaḥ = set aside His weapons and royal attire; vasānaḥ = and put on; vāsasī kṣaume = two pieces of silk clothes; purodhāya = while keeping in front; purodhasam = His priest Vasiṣṭha.
Upon seeing Bharadvāja’s āśrama, Prince Bharata who knew dharma set aside His weapons and royal attire and put on two pieces of silk clothes. He placed His entire army one krośa from the āśrama and departed on foot with His ministers while keeping His priest Vasiṣṭha in front.
1 “Since He had promised this at night” occurs in the commentary to text 2.100.1 when the commentator refers to the current text. Therefore, it has been integrated with the commentary here.
Bharata set aside His royal attire, that is, His ornaments and paraphernalia such as a golden pot [used for coronation]. To serve Bharadvāja, Bharata gave up His turban, armor and so on and put on an upper and lower cloth.
In this regard, it should be noted that in text 2.88.26, Bharata had said:
adya-prabhṛti bhūmau tu śayiṣye ’haṁ tṛṇeṣu vā
phala-mūlāśano nityaṁ jaṭā-cīrāṇi dhārayan
“From today I will lie on the ground or grass. Wearing matted locks and clothes from bark, I will daily subsist on fruits and roots.”
And in a later chapter, the author will state:
jaṭilaṁ cīra-vasanaṁ prāñjaliṁ patitaṁ bhuvi
dadarśa rāmo durdarśaṁ yugānte bhāskaraṁ yathā
“Rāma saw Bharata with His hairs matted, wearing clothes of bark, fallen on the ground with His palms joined in supplication. He was painful to be seen, like the sun at the time of dissolution.” (Rāmāyaṇa 2.100.1)
So, one might wonder, how is it that Bharata has been described here as wearing silken clothes?
There is nothing wrong here. In text 2.88.26, Bharata had promised that He would wear clothes from bark and have matted hair. Since He had promised this at night, He matted His hair and put on clothes made from bark the day after leaving Bharadvāja’s āśrama.1