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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.106.12
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 106: Bharata returns without Rāma. Ayodhyā resembles an extinguished fire and deserted altar, he laments its emptiness and reaches Daśaratha’s residence
In the sequence: the narrative pauses over its emptiness through a series of comparisons: an extinguished fire, a defeated army, an abandoned altar, a damaged watering place, and a sky without its familiar lights
2.106.12
puṣpanaddhāṃ vasantānte mattabhramaraśālinīm
drutadāvāgnivipluṣṭāṃ klāntāṃ vanalatām iva
like a forest-creeper at spring's close, decked with blossoms and graced by drunken bees, scorched by a rushing wildfire and withered;
Words: puṣpanaddhāṃ — decked with blossoms; vasantānte — at spring's end; mattabhramaraśālinīm — graced by intoxicated bees; drutadāvāgnivipluṣṭāṃ — scorched by a rushing wildfire; klāntāṃ — withered, weary; vanalatām iva — like a forest-creeper
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.