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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.53.7
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 53: Daśaratha’s remorse. Sumantra describes the horses’ reluctance and the country’s grief, Daśaratha regrets his uncounselled decision and begs to see Rāma
In the sequence: he describes the country as grieving with its people: trees wilted, creatures quiet, ponds clouded, and flowers without their former freshness
2.53.7
jalajāni ca puṣpāṇi mālyāni sthalajāni ca
nādya bhānty alpagandhīni phalāni ca yathā puram
'The water-born flowers and the garlands of land-flowers, and the fruits, do not shine today as they did before, and are poor in fragrance.'
Words: jalajāni — water-born; ca — and; puṣpāṇi — flowers; mālyāni — garlands; sthalajāni — land-born; ca — and; nādya — not today; bhānty — shine; alpagandhīni — of little fragrance; phalāni — fruits; ca — and; yathā puram — as before, as formerly
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.