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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.28.8
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
3.28.8
avaśyaṃ labhate kartā phalaṃ pāpasya karmaṇaḥ
ghoraṃ paryāgate kāle drumaḥ puṣpam ivārtavam
The doer inevitably reaps the dreadful fruit of an evil deed when the time comes round, as a tree bears its seasonal blossom.
Words: avaśyaṃ — inevitably, necessarily; labhate — obtains, reaps; kartā — the doer; phalaṃ — fruit; pāpasya — of the evil; karmaṇaḥ — deed; ghoraṃ — dreadful; paryāgate kāle — when the time comes round; drumaḥ — a tree; puṣpam — blossom; ivārtavam — like (its) seasonal (flower)
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.