Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 114, Shloka 11
अयोध्याप्रवेशः
Bharata Enters Ayodhya and Perceives the City’s Desolation
सहसा चलितां स्थानान्महीं पुण्यक्षयाद्गताम्।संवृतद्युतिविस्तारां तारामिव दिवश्च्युताम्।।2.114.11।।
sahasā calitāṃ sthānān mahīṃ puṇya-kṣayād gatām | saṃvṛta-dyuti-vistārāṃ tārām iva divaś cyutām ||
Ayodhyā semblait une étoile tombée des cieux : soudain arrachée à sa demeure, son vaste éclat voilé, comme par l’épuisement du mérite.
FAQs
The verse invokes the moral universe of karma and puṇya: collective splendour and stability can fade when merit is ‘spent’—a reminder that dharma sustains prosperity.
The narrator continues describing Ayodhyā’s gloom after the upheaval in the royal house, using cosmic imagery.
Not a single virtue, but the theme that dharmic order supports social and cosmic harmony; its disturbance brings dimming and dislocation.