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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.19.14

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 19: Rāma kills the fourteen. He offers withdrawal, cuts down their fourteen spears with one volley and kills them with fourteen further arrows

In the sequence: they reject the warning, mock the prospect of one man resisting their numbers, and threaten to kill him for provoking Khara

3.19.14

kā hi te śaktir ekasya bahūnāṃ raṇamūrdhani
asmākam agrataḥ sthātuṃ kiṃ punar yoddhum āhave

What power have you, a single one, even to stand before us many on the front of battle — let alone to fight in combat?

Words: kā hi — what indeed; te — your; śaktir — power; ekasya — of (you) a single one; bahūnāṃ — of (us) many; raṇamūrdhani — on the front of battle; asmākam — of us, before us; agrataḥ — in front; sthātuṃ — to stand; kiṃ punar — how much more, let alone; yoddhum — to fight; āhave — in combat, battle

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. 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.