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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.5.16

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: tributary Kings and merchants from many countries mingle among gardens, performers, jewel-adorned palaces, and closely built houses → grain is plentiful, water sweet, and drums, lutes, and cymbals fill the streets with music

1.5.16

citrām aṣṭāpadākārāṃ varanārīgaṇair yutām
sarvaratnasamākīrṇāṃ vimānagṛhaśobhitām

brilliant, laid out foursquare like a chessboard, filled with troops of lovely women, strewn with jewels of every kind, resplendent with palatial mansions;

Words: citrām — brilliant, variegated, picturesque; aṣṭāpadākārāṃ — shaped like a chessboard; varanārīgaṇair — with troops of lovely women; yutām — filled with, joined with; sarvaratnasamākīrṇāṃ — strewn with all kinds of jewels; vimānagṛhaśobhitām — resplendent with palatial mansions

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.