Shloka 3.37.24
मारीचोपदेशः — Maricha’s Counsel to Ravana (On Rama’s Dharma and the Peril of Abduction)
स सर्वैस्सचिवैस्सार्धं विभीषणपुरोगमैः।मन्त्रयित्वा तु धर्मिष्ठैः कृत्वा निश्चयमात्मनः।।3.37.23।।दोषाणां च गुणानां च सम्प्रधार्य बलाबलम्।आत्मनश्च बलं ज्ञात्वा राघवस्य च तत्वतः।।3.37.24।।हिताहितं विनिश्चित्य क्षमं त्वं कर्तुमर्हसि।
api svasti bhavet tāta sarveṣāṃ bhuvi rakṣasām |
api rāmo nāsaṅkruddhaḥ kuryāl lokam arākṣasam ||
Dear one, may well-being yet remain for all the rākṣasas upon the earth. For if Rāma becomes truly enraged, he could make the world bereft of rākṣasas.
After consulting all your ministers and the righteous persons led by Vibhisana, you may take a decision. Assess the real strength and weakness, merits and demerits of your own and of Rama. Decide what is good or bad for you and then take steps you deem proper.
Adharma invites destruction: when the righteous are provoked beyond endurance, justice manifests as decisive punishment; therefore one must avoid actions that awaken such righteous wrath.
Mārīca cautions Rāvaṇa that antagonizing Rama is existentially dangerous for the rākṣasa community.
Rama’s capacity to uphold dharma with overwhelming power—tempered by restraint unless provoked.