गतप्रभा द्यौरिव भास्करं विना व्यपेतनक्षत्रगणेव शर्वरी।
पुरी बभासे रहिता महात्मना न चास्रकण्ठाकुलमार्गचत्वरा॥
gata-prabhā dyaur iva bhāskaraṁ vinā
vyapeta-nakṣatra-gaṇeva śarvarī
purī babhāse rahitā mahātmanā
na cāsra-kaṇṭhākula-mārga-catvarā
gata-prabhā = devoid of illumination; dyauḥ = the sky; iva = like; bhāskaram vinā = in the absence of sun; vyapeta-nakṣatra-gaṇā = in the absence of the stars; iva = like; śarvarī = the night; purī = the city; babhāse = look well; rahitā = in the absence; mahā-ātmanā = of the great soul Daśaratha; na ca = did not; asra-kaṇṭha-ākula-mārga-catvarā = its streets and junctions were filled with people whose throats choked up due to their tears.
Like the sky devoid of illumination in the absence of the sun, like the night in the absence of the stars, the city did not look well in the absence of the great soul Daśaratha. Its streets and junctions were filled with people whose throats choked up due to their tears.
1 If Ayodhyā is comparable to the night, Rāma and other such members of the royalty are comparable to the moon, stars and so on. Right now Ayodhyā was comparable to a night without the moon, stars and so on.
Vyapeta-nakṣatra-gaṇā indicates that the city resembled the night without any illumination from the moon, [stars] and so on. This is a comparison to the absence of kings such as Rāma.1