Shloka 3.64.74
गोदावरीतटे सीतान्वेषणम् — The Search for Sītā at the Godāvarī
यथा जरा यथा मृत्युर्यथा कालो यथा विधिः।नित्यं न प्रतिहन्यन्ते सर्वभूतेषु लक्ष्मण।।।।तथाहं क्रोधसंयुक्तो न निवार्योऽस्मि सर्वथा।
yathā jarā yathā mṛtyur yathā kālo yathā vidhiḥ |
nityaṃ na pratihanyante sarvabhūteṣu lakṣmaṇa ||
tathāhaṃ krodha-saṃyukto na nivāryo ’smi sarvathā ||
Just as, among all beings, old age and death—time and destiny—are ever inevitable and cannot be turned back, so too, O Lakṣmaṇa, when I am joined with wrath, I cannot be restrained in any way.
Just as all beings in this world cannot avoid age and death, or defy time and fate so also none can prevent me at all when I am angry, O Lakshmana !
The verse highlights inevitability (kāla/vidhi) and warns of the destructive power of krodha; dharma calls for self-restraint, because anger—if indulged—overrides discernment and harms righteous action.
In the anguish after Sītā’s abduction, Rāma’s grief turns into fierce anger; he tells Lakṣmaṇa that, like time and death, his wrath is presently unstoppable.
By contrast, the virtue implied is self-control (dama/kṣamā); Lakṣmaṇa is positioned as the steady counselor who must help Rāma return from anger to dharmic resolve.