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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.24.5
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: Khara sees Rāma ready at the hermitage and orders his charioteer to drive toward him → the rākṣasa leaders close around Rāma and shower him with weapons
3.24.5
sa teṣāṃ yātudhānānāṃ madhye rato gataḥ kharaḥ
babhūva madhye tārāṇāṃ lohitāṅga ivoditaḥ
Khara, gone into the midst of those yātudhānas and taking his stand there, appeared like Mars (the red-bodied one) risen amid the stars.
Words: sa — he; teṣāṃ — of those; yātudhānānāṃ — of the yātudhānas (demons); madhye — in the midst; rato — delighting, set (in his place); gataḥ — gone; kharaḥ — Khara; babhūva — became, appeared; madhye — in the midst; tārāṇāṃ — of the stars; lohitāṅga — Mars (the red-bodied one); ivoditaḥ — like (one) risen
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.