Shloka 1.5.21
अयोध्यानगरवर्णनम् (Description of Ayodhya and the Ikshvaku Royal Setting)
ये च बाणैर्न विध्यन्ति विविक्तमपरापरम् ।
शब्दवेध्यं च विततं लघुहस्ता विशारदा: ।।1.5.20।।
सिंहव्याघ्रवराहाणां मत्तानां नर्दतां वने ।
हन्तारो निशितैश्शस्त्रैर्बलाद्बाहुबलैरपि ।।1.5.21।।
तादृशानां सहस्रैस्तामभिपूर्णां महारथै: ।
पुरीमावासयामास राजा दशरथस्तदा ।।1.5.22।।
tām agnimadbhir guṇavadbhir āvṛtāṃ dvijottamair vedaṣaḍaṅgapāragaiḥ | sahasradaiḥ satyaratair mahātmabhir maharṣikalpai ṛṣibhiś ca kevalaiḥ ||
That Ayodhyā was filled with the best of the twice-born—keepers of the sacred fires, virtuous, and accomplished in the Vedas and the six Vedāṅgas—generous in gifts by the thousand, devoted to truth, great-souled, like maharṣis, with unique sages among them.
The city was inhabited by thousands of warriors known as maharathas. They were skilled archers and sharphanded. They would not pierce with arrows, solitary persons, persons without defence, fleeing foes who could be tracked down through hints from sound. With sharp arrows or with the strength of their arms, they would kill roaring and inebriated lions, tigers, boars etc. in the forest. It was in that city (of Ayodhya) that king Dasaratha lived.
Satya and dharma as social foundations: truthfulness, ritual responsibility, learning, and generosity are presented as the pillars that sustain an ideal kingdom.
The description culminates by praising Ayodhyā’s learned, truthful, and charitable community, closing the sarga’s portrayal of the capital’s excellence.
Truth-devotion (satya-rati) and generosity (dāna), supported by learning and disciplined religious practice.