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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.26.4

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: Triśiras intercepts Khara and asks to fight first, swearing on his weapon that either he or Rāma will die → Khara can return victorious if Rāma falls, or fight afterward if Triśiras fails

3.26.4

ahaṃ vāsya raṇe mṛtyur eṣa vā samare mama
vinivartya raṇotsāhaṃ muhūrtaṃ prāśniko bhava

Either I shall be his death in the fray, or he mine in battle; restraining your zeal for battle a moment, be the judge.

Words: ahaṃ — I; vāsya — or of him; raṇe — in the fray; mṛtyur — death; eṣa — he, this one; vā — or; samare — in battle; mama — my, of me; vinivartya — having restrained, held back; raṇotsāhaṃ — zeal for battle; muhūrtaṃ — for a moment; prāśniko — a judge, umpire; bhava — be

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.