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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.106.16

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

2.106.16

vipulāṃ vitatāṃ caiva yuktapāśāṃ tarasvinām
bhūmau bāṇair viniṣkṛttāṃ patitāṃ jyām ivāyudhāt

broad and outstretched, like the bowstring of mighty men — its loop made fast — severed by arrows and fallen from the bow to the ground;

Words: vipulāṃ — broad; vitatāṃ caiva — and outstretched; yuktapāśāṃ — with its loop made fast; tarasvinām — of the mighty; bhūmau — to the ground; bāṇair — by arrows; viniṣkṛttāṃ — severed; patitāṃ — fallen; jyām ivāyudhāt — like a bowstring from the bow

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.