Ramayana — Aranya Kanda, Sarga 53, Shloka 8
सीताविलापः रावणनिन्दा च
Sita’s Lament and Condemnation of Ravana
कथयिष्यन्ति लोकेषु पुरुषाः कर्म कुत्सितम्।सुनृशंसमधर्मिष्ठं तव शौण्डीर्यमानिनः।।3.53.8।।
kathayiṣyanti lokeṣu puruṣāḥ karma kutsitam |
sunṛśaṃsam adharmiṣṭhaṃ tava śauṇḍīrya-māninaḥ ||3.53.8||
People across the world will speak of your deed as contemptible—cruel and utterly against dharma—though you imagine yourself to be heroic.
O lowly demon, you have, indeed, shown your heroism (in killing this old vulture).You have not won me in a battle declared by you.
FAQs
Dharma includes accountability before society and conscience: cruel acts bring lasting blame. Moral truth outlives power and self-image.
Sītā warns Rāvaṇa that public memory will condemn his act as cruel and unrighteous.
Sītā’s moral discernment and her appeal to loka-nīti (social-ethical judgment) as a restraint on adharma.