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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.77.3

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 77: Bharata’s march to the Gaṅgā. The Queens, army, priests, craftspeople and townspeople accompany him, the company camps before the river crossing

In the sequence: Bharata leaves at dawn with ministers, priests, and a large military escort, described as nine thousand elephants, sixty thousand chariots, and a hundred thousand horsemen

2.77.3

navanāgasahasrāṇi kalpitāni yathāvidhi
anvayur bharataṃ yāntam ikṣvāku kulanandanam

Nine thousand elephants, duly caparisoned, followed Bharata, delight of the Ikṣvāku line, as he went.

Words: navanāgasahasrāṇi — nine thousand elephants; kalpitāni — equipped, caparisoned; yathāvidhi — duly, according to rule; anvayur — followed; bharataṃ — Bharata; yāntam — as he went; ikṣvāku kulanandanam — delight of the Ikṣvāku line

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.