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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.28.23

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

3.28.23

kāmaṃ bahv api vaktavyaṃ tvayi vakṣyāmi na tv aham
astaṃ gacched dhi savitā yuddhavighras tato bhavet

Though much might well be said to you, I shall say no more; for the sun would else set, and then there would be a hindrance to the fight.

Words: kāmaṃ — granted, though; bahv api — even much; vaktavyaṃ — to be said; tvayi — to you; vakṣyāmi — I shall speak; na — not; tv — but; aham — I; astaṃ gacched — would set; dhi — for; savitā — the sun; yuddhavighras — a hindrance to the fight; tato — then; bhavet — would be

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.