Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 92: Bharata Departs for Citrakūṭa
Text 2.92.14
प्रयाणमिति तच्छ्रुत्वा राजराजस्य योषितः।
हित्वा यानानि यानार्हा ब्राह्मणं पर्यवारयन्॥
prayāṇam iti tac chrutvā rāja-rājasya yoṣitaḥ
hitvā yānāni yānārhā brāhmaṇaṁ paryavārayan
prayāṇam iti tat = the journey; śrutvā = heard about; rāja-rājasya = as soon as Mahārāja Daśaratha’s; yoṣitaḥ = wives headed by Kausalyā-devī; hitvā = they got down; yānāni = from their vehicles; yāna-arhāḥ = that were appropriate to them; brāhmaṇam = Bharadvāja, the knower of the Supreme Brahman; paryavārayan = and surrounded.
As soon as Mahārāja Daśaratha’s wives headed by Kausalyā-devī heard about the journey, they got down from their vehicles that were appropriate to them and surrounded Bharadvāja, the knower of the Supreme Brahman.
“They got down from their vehicles that were appropriate to them” indicates that though it was inappropriate for them to get down from their vehicles, they got down from them. The queens surrounded Bharadvāja to offer him their respectful obeisances.
NOTE. The queens knew the importance of respecfully serving and honoring great devotees of the Lord like Bharadvāja. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes the importance of serving authentic devotees of the Lord thus:
It is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.5.2) that if one actually wants to be liberated he must render service to the devotees (mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ); but one who associates with materialistic people is on the path leading to the darkest region of existence (tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam). All the devotees of the Lord traverse this earth just to recover the conditioned souls from their delusion. (Bhagavad-gītā 7.28 purport)