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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.22.8

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: predators cry, darkness spreads before twilight, jackals howl, the sun is obscured, and stars appear by day

3.22.8

babhūva timiraṃ ghoram uddhataṃ romaharṣaṇam
diśo vā vidiśo vāpi suvyaktaṃ na cakāśire

A dreadful, thick darkness arose, hair-raising; neither the quarters nor the intermediate quarters shone forth distinctly.

Words: babhūva — arose, came to be; timiraṃ — darkness; ghoram — dreadful; uddhataṃ — thick, risen up; romaharṣaṇam — hair-raising; diśo vā — the quarters; vidiśo vāpi — or the intermediate quarters too; suvyaktaṃ — distinctly, clearly; na — not; cakāśire — shone forth

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.