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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.19.4

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: Rāma tells Lakṣmaṇa to stay beside Sītā while he confronts the arrivals

3.19.4

muhūrtaṃ bhava saumitre sītāyāḥ pratyanantaraḥ
imān asyā vadhiṣyāmi padavīm āgatān iha

“For a moment, Saumitri, stay close beside Sītā; I shall slay these who have come here along her track.

Words: muhūrtaṃ — for a moment; bhava — be, stay; saumitre — O Saumitri; sītāyāḥ — of Sītā, at Sītā's (side); pratyanantaraḥ — close beside, right next to; imān — these; asyā — her; vadhiṣyāmi — I shall slay; padavīm — the path, track; āgatān — who have come; iha — here

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.