ततस्स्वलङ्कृतं राजा नगरं प्रविवेश ह। शङ्खदुन्दुभिनिर्घोषै: पुरस्कृत्य द्विजर्षभम्।।1.11.26।।
Meaning
Then the king entered the beautifully adorned city, placing that foremost of brahmins ahead of him, amid the blare of conches and beating of drums.
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| tataḥ su-alaṅkṛtam nagaram | ततः सु-अलङ्कृतम् नगरम् | then the well-adorned city | Accusative singular |
| rājā praviveśa ha | राजा प्रविवेश ह | the king entered | Verb (perfect) |
| śaṅkha-dundubhi-nirghoṣaiḥ | शङ्ख-दुन्दुभि-निर्घोषैः | amid the sounds of conches and drums | Instrumental plural |
| puraskṛtya | पुरस्कृत्य | having placed foremost | Gerund (having done) |
| dvija-ṛṣabham | द्विज-ऋषभम् | bull among the twice-born | Accusative singular |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source draws a double simile between Dasharatha and Indra here: first, Dasharatha rules his kingdom the way Indra rules the heavens, and his deeds in aiding the gods against demonic forces are read as literally Indra-like (karmaNa); second, the specific act of escorting Rishyasringa into Ayodhya is compared to Indra once leading the dwarf-boy Vamana (Vishnu's incarnation) into heaven after Vamana's defeat of the emperor Bali. The source notes the genealogical link behind the simile is exact, not just decorative: Vamana was Sage Kashyapa's son-incarnate, and Rishyasringa is Kashyapa's grandson -- so the same ancestral line that produced one incarnation of Vishnu (Vamana) is, through Rishyasringa's ritual, about to produce the next one as Rama.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.11.27 · Bāla Kāṇḍa