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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.27.4

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 27: Rāma takes up Viṣṇu’s bow. Khara breaks his bow and shoots away his armour, Rāma uses Agastya’s gift to destroy Khara’s chariot and bow

In the sequence: the two exchange such dense volleys that their arrows hide the sky and sun

3.27.4

vikṛṣya balavac cāpaṃ nārācān raktabhojanān
kharaś cikṣepa rāmāya kruddhān āśīviṣān iva

Drawing his bow mightily, Khara hurled at Rāma blood-drinking iron arrows, like angry venomous serpents.

Words: vikṛṣya — having drawn; balavac — mightily, forcefully; cāpaṃ — bow; nārācān — iron arrows; raktabhojanān — blood-drinking; kharaś — Khara; cikṣepa — hurled; rāmāya — at Rāma; kruddhān — angry; āśīviṣān — venomous serpents; iva — 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.