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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.100.8

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 100: Jābāli challenges the exile. He questions permanent family ties, offerings to the dead and belief in the unseen, urging Rāma to accept the available Kingdom

In the sequence: he urges Rāma to return to the prosperous city waiting for him

2.100.8

samṛddhāyām ayodhyāyām ātmānam abhiṣecaya
ekaveṇīdharā hi tvāṃ nagarī saṃpratīkṣate

Consecrate yourself in prosperous Ayodhyā; for the city, wearing her single braid like a grieving wife, awaits you.

Words: samṛddhāyām — in prosperous; ayodhyāyām — Ayodhyā; ātmānam — yourself; abhiṣecaya — consecrate, anoint; ekaveṇīdharā — wearing a single braid (as a wife parted from her lord); hi — indeed; tvāṃ — for you; nagarī — the city; saṃpratīkṣate — awaits, looks for

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.