Shloka 3.40.4
मारीचोपदेश-प्रतिषेधः / Ravana Rejects Maricha’s Counsel and Orders the Golden Deer Deception
त्वद्वाक्यैर्न तु मां शक्यं भेत्तुं रामस्य संयुगे।पापशीलस्य मूर्खस्य मानुषस्य विशेषतः।।3.40.4।।
yas tyaktvā suhṛdo rājyaṃ mātaraṃ pitaraṃ tathā |
strīvākyaṃ prākṛtaṃ śrutvā vanam ekapade gataḥ ||3.40.5||
He who, upon hearing a woman’s ordinary words, went at once to the forest—abandoning friends, kingdom, mother, and father.
It is not possible to dissuade me from my encounter with Rama who is sinful, foolish and especially an ordinary human being.
Rāma’s forest-going (in the epic’s broader frame) is rooted in satya and dharma—keeping a pledged word and honoring duty—though Rāvaṇa derides it as weakness.
Rāvaṇa mocks Rāma’s exile as impulsive compliance, using it to argue that Rāma is not formidable.
The verse points to obedience to duty and truthfulness (satya) as the virtue embodied by Rāma—mischaracterized here by Rāvaṇa.