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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.5.12

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 5: Ayodhyā’s layout and defences. The narrative introduces Kosala on the Sarayū and its capital, describing Ayodhyā’s roads, defences, markets and abundant provisions

In the sequence: its gates, markets, craftspeople, watchtowers, weapons, rampart, and deep moat make it busy and strongly defended

1.5.12

vadhūnāṭakasaṅghaiś ca saṃyuktāṃ sarvataḥ purīm
udyānāmravaṇopetāṃ mahatīṃ sālamekhalām

the city on every side furnished with troupes of dancing-women and players, provided with pleasure-gardens and mango-groves, vast, and girdled with a rampart;

Words: vadhūnāṭakasaṅghaiś ca — and with troupes of dancing-women and players; saṃyuktāṃ — joined with, furnished with; sarvataḥ — on all sides, everywhere; purīm — the city; udyānāmravaṇopetāṃ — provided with gardens and mango-groves; mahatīṃ — great, vast; sālamekhalām — girdled with a rampart (or with sāla trees)

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. 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.