Shloka 6.44.4
चतुश्चत्वारिंशः सर्गः (Sarga 44): निशायुद्धम्, धूलिरुधिरप्रवाहः, इन्द्रजितो मायायुद्धम्
जहिदारयचैहीतिकथंविद्रवसीतिच ।एवंसुतुमुलश्शब्दस्तस्मिंस्तमसिशुश्रुवे ।।।।कालाःकाञ्चनसन्नाहास्तस्मिंस्तमसिराक्षसाः ।सम्प्रदृश्यन्तशैलेन्द्रादीप्तौषधिवनाइव ।।।।
so 'ntardhānagataḥ pāpo rāvaṇī raṇakarkaśaḥ |
adṛśyo niśitān bāṇān mumocāśanivarcasaḥ ||
That sinful Rāvaṇi, harsh in battle, entered concealment, became invisible, and loosed sharp arrows blazing like a thunderbolt.
"Strike", "Tear", "Why are you running away?" were the kind of tumultuous echo heard in the darkness of the night. In that darkness the dark complexioned Vanaras and Rakshasas covered with golden armour in the night seemed like shining herbs of the forest in the mountain.
The verse contrasts dharma-yuddha with deceptive violence: fighting while invisible signals adharma, where power is used without fairness or accountability.
Indrajit (Rāvaṇi) vanishes through concealment and begins an unseen missile-attack with sharp, thunderbolt-like arrows.
By contrast, the verse highlights the vice of deceit (māyā) rather than virtue; it sets up the ethical tension between righteous combat and trickery.