← 1.5.22 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 5: Ayodhyā’s layout and defences

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.5.23

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: the portrait closes with its trained warriors, skilled hunters, learned brāhmaṇas, sacred fires, generosity, and ṛṣis.

1.5.23

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

That city was thronged with the best of brahmins — maintainers of the sacred fires, virtuous, masters of the Vedas and the six Vedāṅgas, givers of thousands in alms, devoted to truth, great-souled and like unto the great seers — and with sages pure and perfect.

Words: tām — that (city); agnimadbhir — maintaining the sacred fires; guṇavadbhir — virtuous, endowed with good qualities; āvṛtāṃ — thronged, filled, surrounded; dvijottamair — with the best of the twice-born (brahmins); vedaṣaḍaṅgapāragaiḥ — masters of the Vedas and six Vedāṅgas; sahasradaiḥ — givers of thousands (in alms); satyaratair — devoted to truth; mahātmabhir — great-souled; maharṣikalpair — resembling great seers; ṛṣibhiś ca — and with seers; kevalaiḥ — pure, unalloyed, perfect (ascetics)

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.