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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.24.18

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 24: Battle at Janasthāna. The army surrounds and wounds Rāma, his arrows drive it back and Dūṣaṇa rallies the survivors to attack with trees and rocks

In the sequence: Rāma responds with hundreds and thousands of arrows, killing attackers and cutting through their weapons, standards, armor, and limbs

3.24.18

bhittvā rākṣasadehāṃs tāṃs te śarā rudhirāplutāḥ
antarikṣagatā rejur dīptāgnisamatejasaḥ

Piercing those rākṣasa bodies, those arrows, drenched in blood, gleamed in the air, bright as blazing fire.

Words: bhittvā — having pierced; rākṣasadehāṃs — the rākṣasa bodies; tāṃs — those; te — those; śarā — arrows; rudhirāplutāḥ — drenched in blood; antarikṣagatā — gone into the air, midair; rejur — gleamed, shone; dīptāgnisamatejasaḥ — bright as blazing fire

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.