Valmiki Ramayana 1.5: pañcamaḥ sargaḥ

1.5.1

sarvāpūrvam iyaṃ yeṣām āsīt kṛtsnā vasuṃdharā
prajāpatim upādāya nṛpāṇāṃ jayaśālinām

'Ikshváku's sons from days of old
Were ever brave and mighty-souled.
The land their arms had made their own
Was bounded by the sea alone.
Their holy works have won them praise,
Through countless years, from Manu's days.
Their ancient sire was Sagar, he
Whose high command dug out the sea:
With sixty thousand sons to throng
Around him as he marched along.
From them this glorious tale proceeds;
The great Rámáyan tells their deeds.
This noble song whose lines contain,
Lessons of duty, love, and gain,
We two will now at length recite,
While good men listen with delight.
On Sarjú's bank, of ample size,
The happy realm of Kos'al lies,
With fertile length of fair champaign
And flocks and herds and wealth of grain.
There, famous in her old renown,
Ayodhyá stands, the royal town,
In bygone ages built and planned
By sainted Manu's princely hand.
Imperial seat! her walls extend
Twelve measured leagues from end to end,
And three in width from side to side,
With square and palace beautified.
Her gates at even distance stand;
Her ample roads are wisely planned.
Right glorious is her royal street
Where streams allay the dust and heat.
On level ground in even row
Her houses rise in goodly show:
Terrace and palace, arch and gate
The queenly city decorate.
High are her ramparts, strong and vast,
By ways at even distance passed,
With circling moat, both deep and wide,
And store of weapons fortified.

1.5.2

yeṣāṃ sa sagaro nāma sāgaro yena khānitaḥ
ṣaṣṭiḥ putrasahasrāṇi yaṃ yāntaṃ paryavārayan

1.5.3

ikṣvākūṇām idaṃ teṣāṃ rājñāṃ vaṃśe mahātmanām
mahad utpannam ākhyānaṃ rāmāyaṇam iti śrutam

1.5.4

tad idaṃ vartayiṣyāmi sarvaṃ nikhilam āditaḥ
dharmakāmārthasahitaṃ śrotavyam anasūyayā

1.5.5

kosalo nāma muditaḥ sphīto janapado mahān
niviṣṭaḥ sarayūtīre prabhūtadhanadhānyavān

1.5.6

ayodhyā nāma nagarī tatrāsīl lokaviśrutā
manunā mānavendreṇa yā purī nirmitā svayam

1.5.7

āyatā daśa ca dve ca yojanāni mahāpurī
śrīmatī trīṇi vistīrṇā suvibhaktamahāpathā

1.5.8

rājamārgeṇa mahatā suvibhaktena śobhitā
muktapuṣpāvakīrṇena jalasiktena nityaśaḥ

1.5.9

tāṃ tu rājā daśaratho mahārāṣṭravivardhanaḥ
purīm āvāsayām āsa divi devapatir yathā

King Das'aratha, lofty-souled,
That city guarded and controlled,
With towering Sál trees belted round,
And many a grove and pleasure ground,
As royal Indra, throned on high,
Rules his fair city in the sky.
She seems a painted city, fair
With chess-board line and even square.
And cool boughs shade the lovely lake

1.5.10

kapāṭatoraṇavatīṃ suvibhaktāntarāpaṇām
sarvayantrāyudhavatīm upetāṃ sarvaśilpibhiḥ

Where weary men their thirst may slake.
There gilded chariots gleam and shine,
And stately piles the Gods enshrine.
There gay sleek people ever throng
To festival and dance and song.
A mine is she of gems and sheen,
The darling home of Fortune's Queen.
With noblest sort of drink and meat,
The fairest rice and golden wheat,
And fragrant with the chaplet's scent
With holy oil and incense blent.
With many an elephant and steed,
And wains for draught and cars for speed.
With envoys sent by distant kings,
And merchants with their precious things,
With banners o'er her roofs that play,
And weapons that a hundred slay;
All warlike engines framed by man,
And every class of artisan.
A city rich beyond compare
With bards and minstrels gathered there,
And men and damsels who entrance
The soul with play and song and dance.
In every street is heard the lute,
The drum, the tabret, and the flute,
The Veda chanted soft and low,
The ringing of the archer's bow;
With bands of godlike heroes skilled
In every warlike weapon, filled,
And kept by warriors from the foe,
As Nágas guard their home below.
There wisest Bráhmans evermore
The flame of worship feed,
And versed in all the Vedas' lore,
Their lives of virtue lead.
Truthful and pure, they freely give;
They keep each sense controlled,
And in their holy fervour live
Like the great saints of old.

1.5.11

sūtamāgadhasaṃbādhāṃ śrīmatīm atulaprabhām
uccāṭṭāladhvajavatīṃ śataghnīśatasaṃkulām

1.5.12

vadhūnāṭakasaṅghaiś ca saṃyuktāṃ sarvataḥ purīm
udyānāmravaṇopetāṃ mahatīṃ sālamekhalām

1.5.13

durgagambhīraparikhāṃ durgām anyair durāsadām
vājivāraṇasaṃpūrṇāṃ gobhir uṣṭraiḥ kharais tathā

1.5.14

sāmantarājasaṅghaiś ca balikarmabhir āvṛtām
nānādeśanivāsaiś ca vaṇigbhir upaśobhitām

1.5.15

prasādai ratnavikṛtaiḥ parvatair upaśobhitām
kūṭāgāraiś ca saṃpūrṇām indrasyevāmarāvatīm

1.5.16

citrām aṣṭāpadākārāṃ varanārīgaṇair yutām
sarvaratnasamākīrṇāṃ vimānagṛhaśobhitām

1.5.17

gṛhagāḍhām avicchidrāṃ samabhūmau niveśitām
śālitaṇḍulasaṃpūrṇām ikṣukāṇḍarasodakām

1.5.18

dundubhībhir mṛdaṅgaiś ca vīṇābhiḥ paṇavais tathā
nāditāṃ bhṛśam atyarthaṃ pṛthivyāṃ tām anuttamām

1.5.19

vimānam iva siddhānāṃ tapasādhigataṃ divi
suniveśitaveśmāntāṃ narottamasamāvṛtām

1.5.20

ye ca bāṇair na vidhyanti viviktam aparāparam
śabdavedhyaṃ ca vitataṃ laghuhastā viśāradāḥ

1.5.21

siṃhavyāghravarāhāṇāṃ mattānāṃ nadatāṃ vane
hantāro niśitaiḥ śastrair balād bāhubalair api

1.5.22

tādṛśānāṃ sahasrais tām abhipūrṇāṃ mahārathaiḥ
purīm āvāsayām āsa rājā daśarathas tadā

1.5.23

tām agnimadbhir guṇavadbhir āvṛtāṃ dvijottamair vedaṣaḍaṅgapāragaiḥ
sahasradaiḥ satyaratair mahātmabhir maharṣikalpair ṛṣibhiś ca kevalaiḥ