Canto 1 - Boyhood
Bāla-kāṇḍa
Chapter 5: The City of Ayodhyā
Text 1.5.9
तां तु राजा दशरथो महाराष्ट्रविवर्धनः।
पुरीमावासयामास दिवं देवपतिर्यथा॥
tāṁ tu rājā daśaratho mahā-rāṣṭra-vivardhanaḥ
purīm āvāsayām āsa divaṁ deva-patir yathā
tām tu = this; rājā = king; daśarathaḥ = Daśaratha; mahā-rāṣṭra-vivardhanaḥ = the enricher of his great kingdom; purīm = city [as his capital]; āvāsayām asa= established; divam = the heaven Amarāvatī [as his capital]; deva-patiḥ = the Lord of the devas; yathā = just as.
King Daśaratha, the enricher of his great kingdom, established this city [as his capital] just as the Lord of the devas [established] the heaven Amarāvatī [as his capital].
The city had an excellence: it was presided over by a great king who enriched his great kingdom by maintaining it in accordance with Vedic dharma. He was superior to the previous kings of his dynasty.