Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 114, Shloka 13
अयोध्याप्रवेशः
Bharata Enters Ayodhya and Perceives the City’s Desolation
सम्मूढनिगमांस्तब्धां संक्षिप्तविपणापणाम्। प्रच्छन्नशशिनक्षत्रां द्यामिवाम्बुधरैर्वृताम्।।2.114.13।।
sammūḍha-nigamāṃ stabdhāṃ saṅkṣipta-vipaṇāpaṇām | pracchanna-śaśi-nakṣatrāṃ dyām ivāmbudharair vṛtām ||
வணிகர்கள் குழம்பி, நகரம் உறைந்து, சந்தைகளும் கடைகளும் சுருங்கி மூடப்பட்டன. அயோத்தி மேகங்கள் சூழ்ந்த வானம்போல்—அதில் நிலவும் நட்சத்திரங்களும் மறைந்ததுபோல் தோன்றினாள்॥
Ayodhya with its markets and shops closed, and its merchants in a daze looked like the sky covered with clouds obscuring the Moon and stars.
FAQs
A dharmic kingdom supports social confidence and orderly livelihood; when righteousness is shaken by injustice and sorrow, even everyday economic life becomes paralyzed.
Bharata finds Ayodhyā muted and unsettled; the narrator depicts civic shutdown through the clouded-sky comparison.
The implied virtue is rajadharma—rulers must preserve public stability so that fear and confusion do not ‘cover’ society like clouds.