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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.8.12

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 8: Story of the tapasvin’s sword. Sītā describes how guarding Indra’s weapon corrupted a peaceful ṛṣi and warns Rāma against violence without enmity

In the sequence: seeing him enter the forest armed worries her: a warrior's bow can inflame aggression as fuel feeds fire. To explain, Sītā recalls a tapasvin whose peaceful discipline Indra wished to obstruct

3.8.12

kṣatriyāṇām iha dhanur hutāśasyendhanāni ca
samīpataḥ sthitaṃ tejobalam ucchrayate bhṛśam

The bow is to warriors here as fuel is to the fire: standing close by, it makes their fiery strength blaze up mightily.

Words: kṣatriyāṇām — of warriors; iha — here; dhanur — the bow; hutāśasyendhanāni ca — and fuel of the fire; samīpataḥ — from close by; sthitaṃ — standing, placed; tejobalam — fiery strength; ucchrayate — rises up, blazes up; bhṛśam — greatly, mightily

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.