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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.21.17

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 21: Khara’s army mobilizes. Dūṣaṇa assembles fourteen thousand rākṣasas, Khara mounts his chariot and the armed force marches from Janasthāna

In the sequence: Dūṣaṇa brings the gold-decorated chariot with its dappled horses → Khara mounts, the troops gather around him and Dūṣaṇa, and he gives the order to march

3.21.17

niśāmya taṃ rathagataṃ rāakṣasā bhīmavikramāḥ
tasthuḥ saṃparivāryainaṃ dūṣaṇaṃ ca mahābalam

Seeing him mounted on the chariot, the rākṣasas of terrible valour stood surrounding him and the mighty Dūṣaṇa.

Words: niśāmya — having seen, beheld; taṃ — him; rathagataṃ — mounted on the chariot; rāakṣasā — the rākṣasas; bhīmavikramāḥ — of terrible valour; tasthuḥ — stood; saṃparivāryainaṃ — surrounding him; dūṣaṇaṃ — Dūṣaṇa; ca — and; mahābalam — the mighty one

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.