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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.20.25

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 20: Lakṣmaṇa opposes fate with effort. He offers to overcome every obstacle by force, Rāma wipes away his tears but remains bound to the promise

In the sequence: he points to his weapons and promises to defeat anyone who intervenes

2.20.25

na śobhārthāv imau bāhū na dhanur bhūṣaṇāya me
nāsirābandhanārthāya na śarāḥ stambhahetavaḥ

These two arms of mine are not for show, nor is my bow for ornament, nor is my sword merely for wearing bound at the waist, nor are my arrows meant to stand idle as props.

Words: na — not; śobhārthāv — for the sake of beauty; imau — these two; bāhū — arms; na — not; dhanur — the bow; bhūṣaṇāya — for ornament; me — my; nāsirābandhanārthāya — nor the sword for the sake of merely being bound on; na — not; śarāḥ — the arrows; stambhahetavaḥ — serving as motionless posts

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.