Shloka 3.37.25
मारीचोपदेशः — Maricha’s Counsel to Ravana (On Rama’s Dharma and the Peril of Abduction)
अहं तु मन्ये तव न क्षमं रणे समागमं कोसलराजसूनुना।इदं हि भूयश्श़ृणु वाक्यमुत्तमं क्षमं च युक्तं च निशाचरेश्वर।।।।
api te jīvitāntāya notpannā janakātmajā |
api sītānimittaṃ ca na bhaved vyasanaṃ mama ||
May the daughter of Janaka not have been born for the very ending of your life. And may no calamity come upon me on account of Sītā.
O Ravana ! I think it is not good on your part to confront the prince of Kosala in a war. Listen to my words and consider what is good for you.ityārṣē śrī madrāmāyaṇē vālmīkīya ādikāvyē araṇyakāṇḍē saptatriṅśassargaḥ৷৷Thus ends the thirtyseventh sarga of Aranyakanda of the holy Ramayana the first epic composed by sage Valmiki.
Violating dharma—especially by coveting or harming another’s rightful spouse—brings ruin; the verse frames Sītā as the karmic turning-point for adharma.
Mārīca foresees that Sītā will become the cause of Rāvaṇa’s death and worries that involvement with Sītā will also bring him disaster.
Mārīca’s cautious foresight (though morally compromised elsewhere) and the implicit sanctity and inviolability associated with Sītā.