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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.74.3

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 74: Construction of Bharata’s route. Workers clear and level the ground, plant trees, dig wells and build supplied, defended camps along the road to the Gaṅgā

In the sequence: Surveyors, builders, diggers, carpenters, tree-cutters, well-makers, and other workers move ahead

2.74.3

kūpakārāḥ sudhākārā vaṃśakarmakṛtas tathā
samarthā ye ca draṣṭāraḥ puratas te pratasthire

well-diggers, plasterers, and workers in bamboo, and those capable ones who serve as overseers — they set out in front.

Words: kūpakārāḥ — well-diggers; sudhākārā — plasterers; vaṃśakarmakṛtas — workers in bamboo; tathā — and; samarthā — capable; ye ca — and who; draṣṭāraḥ — overseers (lit. seers, inspectors); puratas — in front; te — they; pratasthire — set out

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.