Shloka 3.40.7
मारीचोपदेश-प्रतिषेधः / Ravana Rejects Maricha’s Counsel and Orders the Golden Deer Deception
एवं मे निश्चिता बुद्धिर्हृदि मारीच वर्तते।न व्यावर्तयितुं शक्या सेन्द्रैरपि सुरासुरैः।।3.40.7।।
doṣaṃ guṇaṃ vā sampṛṣṭas tvam evaṃ vaktum arhasi |
apāyaṃ vāpy upāyaṃ vā kāryasyāsya viniścaye ||3.40.8||
Only if you had been asked about the fault or merit—about the danger or the means—while deciding this undertaking, would such speech from you have been fitting.
O Maricha ! I have made up my mind that way. Even demons or deities including Indra cannot alter this decision of mine.
It gestures toward a norm of counsel in governance (rājadharma): advice should be offered in a proper consultative frame. Ironically, Rāvaṇa uses this to silence dharmic warning rather than to seek truth.
Rāvaṇa rebukes Mārīca for advising him unbidden, framing counsel as appropriate only when requested.
The administrative virtue is disciplined counsel and procedure; the episode also warns that procedure can be misused to avoid moral accountability.