Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 80

Meaning

Now men expert in divining the presence of subterranean water in a given plot of land, those adept in designing buildings, pavilions etc., gallant men vigilant in their duty (of guarding the roadways), workmen expert in sinking wells and digging tunnels etc., mechanics contriving devices for crossing streams etc., or obstructing the flow of water, paid labourers, architects, men expert in making catapults etc., even so carpenters, those entrusted with the duty of clearing or guarding the way, hewers of trees and cooks, men expert in plastering and whitewashing etc., those preparing mats and winnowing fans etc., from bamboos and making articles of leather such as saddles, and capable guides set forth in advance. (1—3)

Meaning

Marching with joy to the region where Śrī Rāma was sojourning, that huge multitude of men really shone like a great upsurge of the ocean on a full moon. (4)

Meaning

Seeking the company of their own confreres, men skilled in constructing roads etc., marched ahead with implements of various kinds. (5)

Meaning

Removing boughs of trees as well as creepers and shrubs, stumps and rocks too and cutting down trees of every description that obstructed the way, those men hewed out a path. (6)

Meaning

Nay, some men raised trees in treeless areas for providing shade; while others hewed the existing ones here and there by means of axes, hatchets and sickles. (7)

Meaning

Still others, who were stronger than the rest, tore by the roots with their own hands tufts of Vīraṇa grass (a fragrant grass), that had got firmly rooted, and levelled uneven stretches of land at different places. (8)

Meaning

Others filled waterless wells covered with grass etc., that fell on the way, as well as extensive pits with earth. Similarly, they levelled low-lying lands all round in no time. (9)

Meaning

On that occasion the workmen bridged the streams that could be bridged, and likewise crushed the pebbles etc., that could be crushed and smashed the impediments that obstructed the passage of water and were worth smashing. (10)

Meaning

By constructing dams they actually turned in a short time rivulets into many ponds of various sizes and shapes, containing plentiful water and resembling seas. (11)

Meaning

Nay, in waterless tracts they caused to be sunk excellent wells of every description embellished with platforms for people to sit on. (12)

Meaning

The highway carved out for the army to pass along was paved with concrete mixed with lime and lined with trees laden with blossoms. Flocks of birds excited with sexual passion and giving out shrill cries were seen on those trees and the road was also decorated with buntings. The road, which was sprinkled with water mixed with sandal-paste, and adorned with flowers of various kinds, looked most charming like a pathway of gods. (13-14)

Meaning

Nay, having given orders to the workers to fix tents etc., as enjoined by Bharata, the aforesaid officers entrusted with the work of fixing tents etc., who were all alert, got tents pitched forthwith in delightful areas abounding in luscious fruits. They further adorned with decorations the tent which was liked by the high-souled Bharata and in itself resembled an ornament. (15-16)

Meaning

The knowers of the science of architecture consecrated the camps erected for the high-souled Bharata at auspicious hours on days when the stars were propitious. (17)

Meaning

Many heaps of earth were raised and moats too excavated round these camps. Enclosed by those moats stood tents containing images of sapphire and adorned with excellent lanes. (18)

Meaning

Accompanied by rows of temples, the camps were bounded by enclosures whitewashed with lime. They were all decorated with buntings and divided by well-designed roads. (19)

Meaning

Standing side by side with seven storeyed mansions, the tops of which were provided with dove-cots and which flew about, as it were, in the air, the said camps shone like so many capitals of Indra. (20)

Meaning

Extending up to the bank of the holy Gaṅgā (foster-daughter of King Jahnu)—which was hemmed in with forests consisting of trees of every description, was full of cool and limpid waters and infested with large fishes—that delightful road, constructed in gradual stages by capable engineers, looked very charming at that time even as a cloudless sky adorned with a host of stars accompanied by the moon during the night. (21-22)