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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.5.9

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: Daśaratha rules a city of broad avenues and a royal road continually sprinkled with water and strewn with flowers

1.5.9

tāṃ tu rājā daśaratho mahārāṣṭravivardhanaḥ
purīm āvāsayām āsa divi devapatir yathā

And King Daśaratha, enhancer of the great realm, dwelt in and peopled that city, as the lord of the gods dwells in heaven.

Words: tāṃ tu — and that; rājā — the king; daśaratho — Daśaratha; mahārāṣṭravivardhanaḥ — enhancer of the great realm; purīm — the city; āvāsayām āsa — peopled, made his abode in; divi — in heaven; devapatir — the lord of the gods (Indra); yathā — as, like

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.