Shloka 3.40.5
मारीचोपदेश-प्रतिषेधः / Ravana Rejects Maricha’s Counsel and Orders the Golden Deer Deception
यस्त्यक्त्वा सुहृदो राज्यं मातरं पितरं तथा।स्त्रीवाक्यं प्राकृतं श्रुत्वा वनमेकपदे गतः।।3.40.5।।
avaśyaṃ tu mayā tasya saṃyuge kharaghātinaḥ |
prāṇaiḥ priyatarā sītā hartavyā tava sannidhau ||3.40.6||
Surely, in your very presence I shall abduct Sītā—dearer to him than his own life—from that Rāma who slew Khara in battle.
On hearing the casual words of a woman, (this) Rama came to the forest at once, leaving his friends, kingdom, mother and father.
The verse foregrounds adharma: harming the innocent and abducting another’s spouse is a direct assault on social and cosmic order, setting the stage for righteous retribution.
Rāvaṇa declares his intention to abduct Sītā and asserts it will happen even before Mārīca’s eyes.
By contrast, Sītā is presented as supremely beloved and protected within dharma; Rāvaṇa’s trait here is reckless hubris.