Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.11.14

sammārjita-mahā-mārga-

rathyāpaṇaka-catvarām

siktāḿ gandha-jalair uptāḿ

phala-puṣpākṣatāńkuraiḥ

SYNONYMS

sammārjita — thoroughly cleansed; mahā-mārga — highways; rathya — lanes and subways; āpaṇaka — shopping marketplaces; catvarām — public meeting places; siktām — moistened with; gandha-jalaiḥ — scented water; uptām — was strewn with; phala — fruits; puṣpa — flowers; akṣata — unbroken; ańkuraiḥ — seeds.

TRANSLATION

The highways, subways, lanes, markets and public meeting places were all thoroughly cleansed and then moistened with scented water. And to welcome the Lord, fruits, flowers and unbroken seeds were strewn everywhere.

PURPORT

Scented waters prepared by distilling flowers like rose and keora were requisitioned to wet the roads, streets and lanes of Dvārakā-dhāma. Such places, along with the marketplace and public meeting places, were thoroughly cleansed. From the above description, it appears that the city of Dvārakādhāma was considerably big, containing many highways, streets and public meeting places with parks, gardens and reservoirs of water, all very nicely decorated with flowers and fruits. And to welcome the Lord such flowers and fruits with unbroken seeds of grain were also strewn over the public places. Unbroken seeds of grain or fruits in the seedling stage were considered auspicious, and they are still so used by the Hindus in general on festival days.