Shloka 3.6.14
षष्ठस्सर्गः — तपस्विरक्षणे राजधर्मोपदेशः (Sarga 6: The Sages’ Appeal and Instruction on Royal Duty)
यत्करोति परं धर्म मुनिर्मूलफलाशनः।तत्र राज्ञश्चतुर्भाग प्रजा धर्मेण रक्षितः।।।।
so 'yaṃ brāhmaṇabhūyiṣṭho vānaprasthagaṇo mahān |
tvannātho 'nāthavad rāma rākṣasair vadhyate bhṛśam ||
O Rāma, this great community of forest-dwelling sages—mostly brahmins—though having you as our lord, is being slain fiercely by rākṣasas, as if we were without a protector.
One fourth of the supreme merit a sage earns by living on fruits and roots, accrues to the king through which the people are protected righteously.
Dharma demands protection of the vulnerable; the verse frames unchecked violence against ascetics as a failure of the protective order that righteous power is meant to uphold.
Sages report ongoing attacks by rākṣasas and stress the urgency: despite Rāma’s presence as a rightful protector, they are being killed.
The sages’ truthfulness and moral urgency in petitioning; and by implication, Rāma’s expected virtue of protective justice.