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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.28.17

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 28: Khara’s mace destroyed. Rāma condemns his attacks on the ṛṣis, Khara throws a blazing mace and Rāma shatters it with arrows

In the sequence: Khara answers that killing ordinary troops is no reason to boast → he claims that his mace is enough to kill Rāma and cuts the argument short because sunset would interrupt their fight

3.28.17

vikrāntā balavanto vā ye bhavanti nararṣabhāḥ
kathayanti na te kiṃ cit tejasā svena garvitāḥ

Those bulls among men who are valiant and strong say nothing in boast, though proud in their own might.

Words: vikrāntā — valiant; balavanto — strong; vā — and, or; ye — who; bhavanti — are; nararṣabhāḥ — bulls among men; kathayanti — speak, say; na — not; te — they; kiṃ cit — anything; tejasā — in might; svena — their own; garvitāḥ — proud

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.