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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.28.20

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

3.28.20

sarvathā tu laghutvaṃ te katthanena vidarśitam
suvarṇapratirūpeṇa tapteneva kuśāgninā

In every way your pettiness has been revealed by your boasting, as base metal counterfeiting gold is exposed by fire kindled with kuśa-straw.

Words: sarvathā — in every way; tu — indeed; laghutvaṃ — pettiness, lightness; te — your; katthanena — by (your) boasting; vidarśitam — shown, revealed; suvarṇapratirūpeṇa — by (base metal) counterfeiting gold; tapteneva — as by (that) heated; kuśāgninā — by the kuśa-straw fire

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.