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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.13.22

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 13: Aśvamedha yajña: The horse’s return and completion of the rites. The returning horse is sacrificed with prescribed posts, a Garuḍa-shaped altar and continual hospitality, Daśaratha rewards the priests and requests the rite for sons

In the sequence: bricks are made to the prescribed measurements → brāhmaṇas skilled in śulba work—the measuring-cord geometry of altar construction—lay out and build the fire-altar

1.13.22

iṣṭakāś ca yathānyāyaṃ kāritāś ca pramāṇataḥ
cito 'gnir brāhmaṇais tatra kuśalaiḥ śulbakarmaṇi
sa cityo rājasiṃhasya saṃcitaḥ kuśalair dvijaiḥ

And the bricks were made according to propriety and to measure; the fire-altar was piled up there by brahmins skilled in the measuring work; that fire-altar of the lion among kings was heaped up by skilled brahmins.

Words: iṣṭakāś — bricks; ca — and; yathānyāyaṃ — according to propriety; kāritāś — caused to be made; ca — and; pramāṇataḥ — according to measure; cito — piled up; 'gnir — the fire (altar); brāhmaṇais — by the brahmins; tatra — there; kuśalaiḥ — skilled; śulbakarmaṇi — in the measuring (śulba) work; sa — that; cityo — the fire-altar, pile; rājasiṃhasya — of the lion among kings; saṃcitaḥ — heaped up, piled; kuśalair — by the skilled; dvijaiḥ — brahmins

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.