Baal Kaanda
42 - Entry of Visvamitra with Rama and Laksmana into the precincts of Mithila
Chaupais
Description
The beauty of the city surpassed description; every inch of it was soul-captivating. There was a lovely bazar and gorgeous balconies made of jewels, fashioned as it were by the Creator with his own hands. Wealthy and good merchants, who vied with Kubera (the god of wealth), sat with all their various goods. Beautiful crossings of roads and charming streets were constantly sprinkled with scented waters. The houses of all were abodes of bliss and contained beautiful wall-paintings portrayed, as it were, by Rati's lord (Cupid) himself. The people of the city, both men and women, were good-looking, pious, saintly, virtuous, wise and accomplished. The palace of King Janaka was most marvellous, the sight of whose splendour astounded even gods. Even the fortification wall filled the mind with wonder; it seemed as if it had enclosed within its limits the beauty of the whole universe.