Canto 1 - Boyhood
Bāla-kāṇḍa
Chapter 5: The City of Ayodhyā
Text 1.5.5
कोसलो नाम मुदितः स्फीतो जनपदो महान्।
निविष्टः सरयूतीरे प्रभूतधनधान्यवान्॥
kosalo nāma muditaḥ sphīto janapado mahān
niviṣṭaḥ sarayūtīre prabhūta-dhana-dhānyavān
kosalaḥ = Kosala; nāma = is well-known as; muditaḥ = [and] happy; sphītaḥ = populated; janapadaḥ = country; mahān = as a large; niviṣṭaḥ = situated; sarayū-tīre = on the banks of the River Sarayū; prabhūta-dhana-dhānyavān = filled with abundant wealth and grains.
Kosala is well-known as a large, populated and happy country, filled with abundant wealth and grains, situated on the banks of the River Sarayū.
1 The river was flowing through the land of Kosala.
Now that the author has declared that he will describe the life history of Lord Rāma, he first shows the opulence of the land fit to be incarnated upon by the Lord. “Happy country” is a figurative expression; it means that its residents were happy. Janapadaḥ refers to a country or land: nīvṛj janapado deśa-viṣayau (Amara). The country was on both banks of the River Sarayū.1