नाल्पसन्निचय: कश्चिदासीत्तस्मिन् पुरोत्तमे । कुटुम्बी यो ह्यसिद्धार्थोऽगवाश्वधनधान्यवान् ।।1.6.7।।
Meaning
In that finest of cities there was no householder of meager means — every family had wealth of cattle, horses, grain and gold.
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| na alpa sannicaya | न अल्प सन्निचय | none, meagre, in accumulations | Gerund (having done) |
| kascit āsīt tasmin | कस्चित् आसीत् तस्मिन् | anyone, is there, in that | Best-effort: role not confidently classified |
| pura uttame | पुर उत्तमे | city, the great | Locative/Dative singular |
| kuṭumbī | कुटुम्बी | a householder | Best-effort: role not confidently classified |
| ya: hi | यः हि | who, really | Indeclinable/particle |
| a siddha artha | अ सिद्ध अर्थ | unearned, means | Best-effort: role not confidently classified |
| a gāva | अ गाव | without, cows | Best-effort: role not confidently classified |
| aśva | अश्व | horses | Best-effort: role not confidently classified |
| dhana | धन | monies | Best-effort: role not confidently classified |
| dhanyavān | धन्यवान् | cereals, the one with them | Best-effort: role not confidently classified |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source defines an 'ordinary family' (kutumba) precisely as a unit of ten: the householder and his wife, his two parents, two sons, two daughters-in-law, one daughter, and one guest. A household lacking the means to sustain a group of this size is what the verse means by poverty -- not an abstract measure but a specific, countable standard.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.6.7 · Bāla Kāṇḍa