← 3.22.22 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 22: Omens on Khara’s march · 3.22.24 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.22.23

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

3.22.23

na kva cit prāptapūrvo me saṃyugeṣu parājayaḥ
yuṣmākam etat pratyakṣaṃ nānṛtaṃ kathayāmy aham

Never before have I met with defeat in battles; this is plain before your eyes — I speak no falsehood.

Words: na — not; kva cit — anywhere, ever; prāptapūrvo — met with before; me — by me, my; saṃyugeṣu — in battles; parājayaḥ — defeat; yuṣmākam — to you (pl.); etat — this; pratyakṣaṃ — evident, before the eyes; nānṛtaṃ — no falsehood; kathayāmy — I speak; aham — I

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.