Shloka 3.43.44
मायामृगदर्शनम् (The Vision of the Illusory Deer)
तदेवं न भवेद्रक्षोवातापिरिव लक्ष्मण।मद्विधं योऽतिमन्येत धर्मनित्यं जितेन्द्रियम्।।।।भवेद्धतोऽयं वातापिरगस्त्येनेव मां गतः।
tad evaṃ na bhaved rakṣo vātāpir iva lakṣmaṇa | madvidhaṃ yo ’timanyeta dharmanityaṃ jitendriyam || bhaved dhato ’yaṃ vātāpir agastyeneva māṃ gataḥ |
So too, O Lakṣmaṇa, this rākṣasa will not survive like Vātāpi: whoever presumes to overstep one such as me—ever steadfast in dharma and self-controlled—will be destroyed, as Vātāpi was by Agastya.
O Lakshmana! just like Vatapi, this demon will not live. Whoever violates a person of my kind who is ever righteous and self-controlled will be killed
To attack the dharmic and self-restrained is to invite ruin; dharma carries an inherent moral force that ultimately prevails over arrogance.
Rāma reassures Lakṣmaṇa that the threatening demon will be destroyed, using Vātāpi’s destruction by Agastya as a precedent.
Jitendriyatā (self-mastery): Rāma presents righteousness and restraint as the foundation of legitimate strength.