Shloka 2.114.15
अयोध्याप्रवेशः — Bharata Enters Ayodhya and Perceives the City’s Desolation
वृक्णभूमितलां निम्नां वृक्णपात्रैस्समावृताम्।
उपयुक्तोदकां भग्नां प्रपां निपतितामिव।।2.114.15।।
vṛkṇa-bhūmi-talāṃ nimnāṃ vṛkṇa-pātraiḥ samāvṛtām | upayukta-udakāṃ bhagnāṃ prapāṃ nipatitām iva ||
Ayodhyā looked like a watering-station (prapā) that had collapsed and sunk: its ground torn and uneven like a hollow, broken vessels scattered about, and its water already used up.
a dale.
A prapā symbolizes public service and care for travellers; its collapse suggests the breakdown of welfare and protection—key duties in rajadharma.
The narrator continues the sequence of similes to show Ayodhyā’s exhaustion and disrepair as Bharata arrives.
The implied virtue is compassionate governance—maintaining resources and social support so the ‘water’ of communal life does not run dry.