Shloka 3.37.22

मारीचोपदेशः — Maricha’s Counsel to Ravana (On Rama’s Dharma and the Peril of Abduction)

Devanagari script

जीवितं च सुखं चैव राज्यं चैव सुदुर्लभम्।यदीच्छसि चिरं भोक्तुं मा कृथा रामविप्रियम्।।।।

Transliteration

jīvitaṃ ca sukhaṃ caiva rājyaṃ caiva sudurlabham | yadīcchasi ciraṃ bhoktuṃ mā kṛthā rāmavipriyam ||

Translation

If you wish to enjoy for a long time your life, your happiness, and even your hard-won kingdom, do not do what brings Rāma’s displeasure.

Context

If you want to enjoy your life, happiness and even the kingdom which is not easily attainable for long, do not incur the displeasure of Rama.

Characters & Entities

• Mārīca
• Rāvaṇa
• Rāma
• kingdom

FAQs

What is the core ethical principle (Dharma) in this verse?

Dharma is self-restraint in power: a ruler preserves life and prosperity by avoiding injustice that provokes righteous retribution.

What is the narrative situation?

Mārīca gives pragmatic counsel to Rāvaṇa: abandon the plan that will inevitably draw Rāma’s wrath.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Nīti (statecraft grounded in ethics): long-term welfare comes from avoiding adharma, not from indulging desire.