Ramayana — Yuddha Kanda, Sarga 71, Shloka 85
अतिकायवधः
The Slaying of Atikāya
अतिकायोतितेजस्वीसौरमस्त्रंसमादधे ।।।।तेनबाणंभुजङ्गाभंहेमपुङ्खमयोजयत् ।
atikāyo ’titejasvī sauram astraṃ samādadhe | tena bāṇaṃ bhujaṅgābhaṃ hemapuṅkham ayojayat ||
अतिकायोऽतितेजस्वी सौरमस्त्रं समादधे; तेन भुजङ्गाभं हेमपुङ्खं बाणं धनुषि अयोजयत्।
Highly energetic Atikaya took a serpent-like arrow with gold feathers and charged it by the concentration of his mind on the power of Sun god.
FAQs
The verse highlights yuddha-dharma in its technical aspect: combatants employ recognized martial means (astra) with skill and intention; it implicitly frames war as rule-bound action rather than chaotic violence.
In the battle, Atikāya prepares a solar-charged missile and sets a serpent-like, gold-fletched arrow to be released against the opposing side.
Martial prowess and focused intent (saṅkalpa): Atikāya’s capacity to invoke and apply an astra-charge with precision.