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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.5.17

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 5: Vasiṣṭha prepares the upavāsa. He establishes Rāma & Sītā’s fast with sacred formulas and reports to Daśaratha as Ayodhyā decorates its streets

In the sequence: on his way back, Vasiṣṭha finds the streets swept, watered, decorated with flowers and flags, and crowded with people eager for sunrise

2.5.17

siktasaṃmṛṣṭarathyā hi tad ahar vanamālinī
āsīd ayodhyā nagarī samucchritagṛhadhvajā

For on that day the city of Ayodhyā, its streets sprinkled and swept, garlanded with woodland flowers, its house-flags raised high, was thus adorned.

Words: siktasaṃmṛṣṭarathyā — with streets sprinkled and swept; hi — for, indeed; tad — on that; ahar — day; vanamālinī — garlanded with woodland flowers; āsīd — was; ayodhyā — Ayodhyā; nagarī — city; samucchritagṛhadhvajā — with house-flags raised high

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.