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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.36.12

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 36: Ayodhyā falls into mourning. Palace women lament, offerings and daily activity cease, animals refuse food and the city loses its joy

In the sequence: the people lose interest in food and pleasure, and no cheerful faces remain on the streets

2.36.12

akasmān nāgaraḥ sarvo jano dainyam upāgamat
āhāre vā vihāre vā na kaś cid akaron manaḥ

All at once every townsman fell into wretchedness, and no one set his mind on food or on pleasure.

Words: akasmān — suddenly, all at once; nāgaraḥ — of the city, townsman; sarvo — all, every; jano — the people; dainyam — wretchedness, dejection; upāgamat — came to, fell into; āhāre — in food; vā — or; vihāre — in pleasure, recreation; vā — or; na kaś cid — no one; akaron — set, made; manaḥ — mind

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.