← 1.6.22 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 6: Daśaratha and Ayodhyā’s inhabitants · 1.6.24 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.6.23
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 6: Daśaratha and Ayodhyā’s inhabitants. Daśaratha rules a prosperous and disciplined population, supported by trained warriors, fine horses and powerful elephants
In the sequence: trained warriors guard the city, which is supplied with fine horses from Kāmboja, Bāhlīka, Vanāyu, and river regions, and powerful elephants from the Vindhya and Himālaya and celebrated elephant lineages
1.6.23
nityamattaiḥ sadā pūrṇā nāgair acalasaṃnibhaiḥ
sā yojane ca dve bhūyaḥ satyanāmā prakāśate
ever full of always-rutting elephants that resembled mountains, that city — true to its name and extending a full two yojanas besides — shone resplendent.
Words: nityamattaiḥ — with ever-rutting (elephants); sadā — always; pūrṇā — full; nāgair — with elephants; acalasaṃnibhaiḥ — resembling mountains; sā — that (city); yojane — yojanas; ca — and, moreover; dve — two; bhūyaḥ — further, besides; satyanāmā — true to its name; prakāśate — shines forth, is resplendent
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.