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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.22.21

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 22: Omens on Khara’s march. Blood-coloured rain, darkness and bodily tremors warn of disaster, Khara dismisses them and advances with his leading warriors

In the sequence: laughing at the portents, he boasts that he could defeat Death or Indra and will not return without killing the brothers

3.22.21

rāghavaṃ taṃ balotsiktaṃ bhrātaraṃ cāpi lakṣmaṇam
ahatvā sāyakais tīkṣṇair nopāvartitum utsahe

Without slaying with my sharp arrows that Rāghava, puffed up with strength, and his brother Lakṣmaṇa too, I cannot bring myself to turn back.

Words: rāghavaṃ — Rāghava; taṃ — that; balotsiktaṃ — puffed up with strength; bhrātaraṃ — brother; cāpi — and also; lakṣmaṇam — Lakṣmaṇa; ahatvā — without slaying; sāyakais — with arrows; tīkṣṇair — sharp; nopāvartitum — not to turn back; utsahe — I am able, bring myself

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.