← 3.28.27 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 28: Khara’s mace destroyed
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.28.28
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: it burns trees and bushes as it flies toward Rāma → Rāma breaks it into pieces with arrows before it reaches him.
3.28.28
sā viśīrṇā śarair bhinnā papāta dharaṇītale
gadāmantrauṣadhibalair vyālīva vinipātitā
Shattered and split by the arrows, it fell to the surface of the earth, like a she-serpent brought down by the power of anti-venom charms, spells, and herbs.
Words: sā — it, that; viśīrṇā — shattered; śarair — by the arrows; bhinnā — split; papāta — fell; dharaṇītale — on the surface of the earth; gadāmantrauṣadhibalair — by the power of anti-venom charms, spells, and herbs; vyālīva — like a she-serpent; vinipātitā — brought down, felled
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.