Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 114, Shloka 14
अयोध्याप्रवेशः
Bharata Enters Ayodhya and Perceives the City’s Desolation
क्षीणपानोत्तमैर्भग्नैः शरावैरभिसंवृताम्।
हतशौण्डामिव ध्वस्तांं पानभूमिमसंस्कृताम्।।2.114.14।।
kṣīṇa-pānottamaiḥ bhagnaiḥ śarāvair abhisaṃvṛtām | hata-śauṇḍām iva dhvastāṃ pāna-bhūmim asaṃskṛtām ||
ایودھیا یوں دکھائی دیتی تھی جیسے عیش و نوش کے بعد کی ایک ناپاک مے خانہ—عمدہ شراب ختم، ٹوٹے ہوئے پیالے بکھرے، اور شوریدہ مے نوش گویا گرے پڑے ہوں؛ جگہ ویران و تباہ۔
(Ayodhya looked) like an uncleansed drinking place with broken pitchers emptied of excellent wine scattered around and with drunkards lying dead in the open.
FAQs
The simile contrasts order and purity with collapse and neglect: when dharma is disturbed, the civic space feels ‘uncleansed,’ reflecting inner and outer disarray.
The narrator intensifies the portrayal of Ayodhyā’s degradation and despondency through a stark, earthy comparison.
The implied virtue is self-restraint and social order; their absence is pictured as the aftermath of uncontrolled indulgence.