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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.106.23
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: Bharata asks why the music, pleasant scents, traffic, horses, elephants, and well-dressed crowds of former days are gone
2.106.23
taruṇaiś cāru veṣaiś ca narair unnatagāmibhiḥ
saṃpatadbhir ayodhyāyāṃ na vibhānti mahāpathāḥ
No longer do the great avenues of Ayodhyā shine, once thronged by young men, handsomely attired and stately in their gait.
Words: taruṇaiś — by young men; cāru veṣaiś ca — and of comely attire; narair — by men; unnatagāmibhiḥ — of lofty gait; saṃpatadbhir — thronging together; ayodhyāyāṃ — in Ayodhyā; na vibhānti — do not shine; mahāpathāḥ — the great avenues
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.