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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.22.4

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: Ominous signs accompany the march: blood-colored rain, stumbling horses, a red-rimmed halo around the sun, and a vulture settling on Khara's standard

3.22.4

tato dhvajam upāgamya hemadaṇḍaṃ samucchritam
samākramya mahākāyas tasthau gṛdhraḥ sudāruṇaḥ

Then a huge, most fearful vulture, coming to the banner raised on its golden staff, alighted on it and perched there.

Words: tato — then; dhvajam — the banner; upāgamya — having come to; hemadaṇḍaṃ — with a golden staff; samucchritam — raised aloft; samākramya — having alighted upon; mahākāyas — huge-bodied; tasthau — perched, stood; gṛdhraḥ — a vulture; sudāruṇaḥ — most fearful

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.