Valmiki Ramayana 2.114.14: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 114, Shloka 14

अयोध्याप्रवेशः · Bharata Enters Ayodhya and Perceives the City’s Desolation

Setting: AyodhyāPlaces named: pānabhūmi (drinking-place), as simile

Devanagari script

क्षीणपानोत्तमैर्भग्नैः शरावैरभिसंवृताम् ।

हतशौण्डामिव ध्वस्तांं पानभूमिमसंस्कृताम् ॥१४॥

Recitation with translationValmiki Ramayana 2.114.14

Transliteration

kṣīṇa-pānottamaiḥ bhagnaiḥ śarāvair abhisaṃvṛtām |

hata-śauṇḍām iva dhvastāṃ pāna-bhūmim asaṃskṛtām ||14||

Translation

अयोध्या ऐसे लग रही थी जैसे किसी पार्टी के बाद कोई गंदा पानी का ठिकाना हो। अच्छी शराब खत्म, टूटी हुई बोतलें पड़ी हैं। जो लोग पी रहे थे वो भी गिर गए, जगह खराब हो गई।

Ask anything about this verse...Ask

Word by Word

• क्षीणपानोत्तमैः: with (vessels) having the best drink exhausted
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्षीण + पान + उत्तम (प्रातिपदिके) (समास)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमासः; पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग (सन्दर्भे शरावैः सह), तृतीया (करण), बहुवचन; ‘with (vessels) whose excellent drink is exhausted’
• Role: Karaṇa (करण) (विशेषणम्)
• Compound: Tatpurusha

• भग्नैः: broken
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भञ्ज् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; ‘broken’
• Role: Karaṇa (करण) (विशेषणम्)

• शरावैः: by pitchers/bowls
• Type: Noun
• Root: शराव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण), बहुवचन
• Role: Karaṇa (करण)

• अभिसंवृताम्: surrounded
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अभि + सम् + वृ (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: उपसर्गपूर्वक क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘surrounded/covered all around’
• Role: Karma (कर्म) (विशेषणम्)

• हतशौण्डाम्: with drunkards slain (i.e., none left)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हत + शौण्ड (प्रातिपदिके) (समास)
• Form: तत्पुरुषः; हत (क्त, ‘killed’); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘with drunkards slain/absent’
• Role: Upamāna (उपमान) (विशेषणम्)
• Compound: Tatpurusha

• इव: like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (उपमा-सूचक)
• Role: Upamā-dyotaka (उपमा-द्योतक)

• आकाशे: in the open
• Type: Noun
• Root: आकाश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (अधिकरण), एकवचन; ‘in the open/under the sky’
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)

• पानभूमिम्: a drinking place
• Type: Noun
• Root: पान + भूमि (प्रातिपदिके) (समास)
• Form: तत्पुरुषः (पानस्य भूमिः); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन
• Role: Upamāna (उपमान)
• Compound: Tatpurusha

• असंस्कृताम्: uncleansed
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ + संस्कृत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नञ्-तत्पुरुष/नकारान्त; स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘uncleansed, unprepared’
• Role: Upamāna (उपमान) (विशेषणम्)

Sandhi Notes

• क्षीणपानोत्तमैर्भग्नैः → क्षीणपानोत्तमैः भग्नैः
• शरावैरभिसंवृताम् → शरावैः अभिसंवृताम्
• हतशौण्डामिवाकाशे → हतशौण्डाम् इव आकाशे

Context

(Ayodhya looked) like an uncleansed drinking place with broken pitchers emptied of excellent wine scattered around and with drunkards lying dead in the open.

The teaching

Worldly exuberance can invert into emptiness; civic life too can appear ‘unclean’ when its sustaining joy and order depart.

Ethical theme

Reflection on bhoga and its aftermath

For your practice

Supports vairāgya: seeing the ‘morning-after’ nature of pleasures and turning toward steadier dharmic joy.

Mood and themes

Rasa

Bibhatsa (disgust), with Karuna (compassion)

Mood

Squalid, spent, shattered

Themes

• Itihasa
• Moral Disorder
• Grief
• Dharma
• Poetic Simile

Symbolism

Relationships

Cross references

Meter and recitation

Characters & Entities

• Ayodhyā

FAQs

What is the core ethical principle (Dharma) in this verse?

The simile contrasts order and purity with collapse and neglect: when dharma is disturbed, the civic space feels ‘uncleansed,’ reflecting inner and outer disarray.

What is the narrative situation?

The narrator intensifies the portrayal of Ayodhyā’s degradation and despondency through a stark, earthy comparison.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

The implied virtue is self-restraint and social order; their absence is pictured as the aftermath of uncontrolled indulgence.