Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 59, Shloka 13
एकोनषष्ठितमः सर्गः (Sarga 59): सुमन्त्रवाक्यं, अयोध्याविषादः, दाशरथिशोकसागरः
अत्रोद्यानानि शून्यानि प्रलीनविहगनि च।न चाभिरामा नारामान्पश्यामि मनुजर्षभ।।2.59.13।।
atrodyānāni śūnyāni pralīna-vihagāni ca |
na cābhirāmān ārāmān paśyāmi manujarṣabha ||
अत्रोद्यानानि शून्यानि प्रलीनविहगानि च। न चाभिरामान् आरामान् पश्यामि मनुजर्षभ॥
Pleasure-gardens are all deserted as the birds have vanished. O best of men, as such they do not look beautiful.
FAQs
It reflects how a society’s moral center affects collective well-being: when dharma is wounded, communal joy (symbolized by gardens and birdsong) recedes.
Sumantra describes Ayodhyā’s (and its environs’) desolation—gardens empty, birds absent—mirroring the people’s sorrow.
Civic love for a righteous heir: the populace’s attachment to Rāma’s virtue is so deep that the city’s cheer seems extinguished without him.