Shloka 3.32.18
अरण्यकाण्डे द्वात्रिंशः सर्गः — Śūrpaṇakhā’s Report to Rāvaṇa and the Panegyric of His Might
देवदानवगन्धर्वपिशाचपतगोरगैः।अभयं यस्य सङ्ग्रामे मृत्युतो मानुषादृते।।।।
devadānavagandharvapiśācapatagoragaiḥ |
abhayaṃ yasya saṅgrāme mṛtyuto mānuṣād ṛte ||
In battle he feared no death at the hands of devas, dānavas, gandharvas, piśācas, birds, or serpents—save only from a human being.
He was unafraid of death in the hands of gods or demons or gandharvas or pisachas or birds or snakes in war except humans.
No boon can cancel moral causality: adharma eventually meets its counterforce. The exception “except by humans” also elevates human responsibility—Dharma is upheld through human choice and action.
The verse explains the scope of Rāvaṇa’s near-invulnerability and foreshadows why Rāma (a human in the visible narrative frame) becomes the destined agent of justice.
Rāma’s role as the human upholder of Dharma is implicitly emphasized—human agency becomes the instrument to restore moral order.