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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.28.4

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: Facing the now dismounted Khara, Rāma condemns his cruelty and the killing of tapasvins → he says power cannot protect someone forever from the consequences of such actions

3.28.4

karma lokaviruddhaṃ tu kurvāṇaṃ kṣaṇadācara
tīkṣṇaṃ sarvajano hanti sarpaṃ duṣṭam ivāgatam

One who does a deed against the world, O night-roamer, all people, fierce as they are, kill, as they kill a venomous serpent that has come near.

Words: karma — a deed; lokaviruddhaṃ — against the world; tu — indeed; kurvāṇaṃ — one doing; kṣaṇadācara — O night-roamer; tīkṣṇaṃ — fierce, sharp; sarvajano — all people; hanti — kills; sarpaṃ — a serpent; duṣṭam — venomous, wicked; ivāgatam — as (one) that has come

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.