Shloka 3.38.3
अष्टत्रिंशः सर्गः — मारीचोपदेशः (Maricha’s Warning and the Memory of Rama’s Power)
विश्वामित्रोऽथ धर्मात्मा मद्वित्रस्तो महामुनिः।।3.38.3।।स्वयं गत्वा दशरथं नरेन्द्रमिदमब्रवीत्।
paradārābhimarśāt tu nānyat pāpataraṃ mahat | pramadānāṃ sahasraṃ ca tava rājan parigrahaḥ || 3.38.30 ||
O king, there is no great sin more grievous than violating another man’s wife—especially when you yourself already possess a thousand women in your household.
Hence the great sage, righteous Visvamitra afraid of me, went to king Dasaratha and said:
Respect for marital boundaries (paradāra-avarjana) is a central dharmic restraint; violating it is portrayed as among the gravest sins.
Mārīca rebukes Rāvaṇa’s intention toward Sītā, arguing that such an act is morally worst and irrational given his own vast harem.
Moral clarity and restraint: the verse upholds self-control over predatory desire.