Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 51, Shloka 23
अयोध्याकाण्डे एकपञ्चाशः सर्गः — Guha’s Vigil and Lakṣmaṇa’s Lament
Night on the riverbank
रम्यचत्वरसंस्थानां सुविभक्तमहापथाम्।हर्म्यप्रासादसम्पन्नाम् गणिकावरशोभिताम्।।2.51.21।।रथाश्वगजसम्बाधां तूर्यनादविनादिताम्।सर्वकल्याणसम्पूर्णां हृष्टपुष्टजनाकुलाम्।।2.51.22।।आरामोद्यानसम्पन्नां समाजोत्सवशालिनीम्।सुखिता विचरिष्यन्ति राजधानीं पितुर्मम।।2.51.23।।
ramyacatvarasaṃsthānāṃ suvibhaktamahāpathām | harmyaprāsādasampannāṃ gaṇikāvaraśobhitām ||2.51.21|| rathāśvagajasambādhāṃ tūryanādavināditām | sarvakalyāṇasampūrṇāṃ hṛṣṭapuṣṭajanākulām ||2.51.22|| ārāmod yānasampannāṃ samājotsavaśālinīm | sukhitā vicariṣyanti rājadhānīṃ pitur mama ||2.51.23||
This verse entry again preserves the extended depiction of Ayodhyā’s thriving civic life: an auspicious, well-planned capital filled with prosperity, music, and festivals, where people wander happily.
They will roam about happily in the capital city of my father with its lovely squares, wellaligned broad highways, its mansions and palaces, full of chariots, elephants, horses. It will be echoing with the sound of trumpets. It will be full of the welfare of all. It will be graced by the fairest of courtesans. Filled with wellnourished and contented people, the city dotted with several pleasuregardens and parks, will look splendid with community festivals and fairs.
FAQs
Rājadharma is validated by the people’s lived experience—contentment, order, and auspicious communal life.
A recension-specific repetition/stacking of adjacent verses in the manuscript tradition.
Respect for the ideal of a dharmic capital and the king’s protective role.