← 3.26.19 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 26: Triśiras loses his three heads

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.26.20

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 26: Triśiras loses his three heads. He takes Khara’s place in battle, Rāma wrecks his chariot and severs his heads, Khara advances himself

In the sequence: surviving troops who have sheltered near Khara flee again → Khara turns them back and charges Rāma himself.

3.26.20

tān kharo dravato dṛṣṭvā nivartya ruṣitaḥ svayam
rāmam evābhidudrāva rāhuś candramasaṃ yathā

Seeing them fleeing, Khara, enraged, turned them back himself and rushed straight at Rāma, as Rāhu at the moon.

Words: tān — them; kharo — Khara; dravato — fleeing; dṛṣṭvā — having seen; nivartya — having turned (them) back; ruṣitaḥ — angered, enraged; svayam — himself; rāmam — at Rāma; evābhidudrāva — rushed straight (at); rāhuś — Rāhu; candramasaṃ — the moon; yathā — as, like

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.