Formerly this was cleft a little by Indra, with his thunderbolt hurled (against it);* but now Lakṣmaṇa would pierce it like a leaf-stalk, by means of his keen arrows. *The commentator interprets the passage differently: Formerly Indra did a little damage herein-i.e. merely slew Maya, the architect of the mansion. This is ingenuity. I give the plain sense.
स्वल्पं हि कृतमिन्द्रेण क्षिपता ह्यशनिं पुरा। लक्ष्मणो निशितैर्बाणैर्भिन्द्यात् पत्रकुटं यथा॥