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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.5.18
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
2.5.18
tadā hy ayodhyā nilayaḥ sastrībālābalo janaḥ
rāmābhiṣekam ākāṅkṣann ākāṅkṣann udayaṃ raveḥ
On that day the people whose home was Ayodhyā, together with the women, children, and the aged, longing for Rāma's consecration, longed also for the rising of the sun.
Words: tadā — then; hy — indeed; ayodhyā — Ayodhyā; nilayaḥ — (whose) home; sastrībālābalo — together with women, children, and the weak; janaḥ — the people; rāmābhiṣekam — Rāma's consecration; ākāṅkṣann — longing for; ākāṅkṣann — longing for; udayaṃ — the rising; raveḥ — of the sun
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.