Shloka 3.37.3
मारीचोपदेशः — Maricha’s Counsel to Ravana (On Rama’s Dharma and the Peril of Abduction)
न नूनं बुध्यसे रामं महावीर्यं गुणोन्नतम्।अयुक्तचारश्चपलो महेन्द्रवरुणोपमम्।।।।
api tvām īśvaraṃ prāpya kāmavṛttaṃ niraṅkuśam |
na vinaśyet purī laṅkā tvayā saha sarākṣasā ||
Even if they have gained you as their lord—driven by desire and unrestrained—may Laṅkā not be destroyed, together with you and the rākṣasas.
You are fickle-minded. You have employed no spy ( who could have told you the truth about Rama's character). Rama is very brave and virtuous comparable to Indra and Varuna. Surely you are not able to know what Rama is.
A ruler’s lack of restraint (niraṅkuśatā) and indulgence (kāmavṛtti) endangers the entire polity; dharma in leadership requires self-mastery.
Mārīca warns that Rāvaṇa’s unrestrained desires can lead to the ruin of Laṅkā and the rākṣasa clan.
The implied virtue is royal self-discipline; its absence in Rāvaṇa is presented as a civilizational threat.