Shloka 3.38.17
अष्टत्रिंशः सर्गः — मारीचोपदेशः (Maricha’s Warning and the Memory of Rama’s Power)
तेन दृष्टः प्रविष्टोऽहं सहसैवोद्यतायुधः।मां तु दृष्ट्वा धनुस्सज्यमसम्भ्रान्तश्चकार सः।।3.38.17।।
avajānann ahaṁ mohād bālo ’yam iti rāghavam |
viśvāmitrasya tāṁ vediṁ abhyadhāvaṁ kṛta-tvaraḥ || 3.38.18 ||
Deluded, I belittled Rāghava as “only a boy,” and in my haste I rushed toward Viśvāmitra’s sacrificial altar.
I entered at once and lifted my weapons. Rama saw me and unperturbed, started stringing his bow.
Moha (delusion) leads to adharma: contempt for a righteous person and an attack on the sacrificial altar are portrayed as moral blindness that invites correction.
Mārīca admits he misjudged Rāma’s capability and rushed to violate the sacrificial space of Viśvāmitra.
Reverence for the sacred (yajña-vedi) is the implied virtue; violating it marks the aggressor as adharmic and justifies protective action.