Shloka 1.38.20
सगरस्य पुत्रलाभः — Sagara’s Boons, Progeny, and the Rise of the Sixty Thousand
स च ज्येष्ठो नरश्रेष्ठ सगरस्यात्मसम्भव:।बालान् गृहीत्वा तु जले सरय्वा रघुनन्दन।।।।प्रक्षिप्य प्रहसन्नित्यं मज्जतस्तान् समीक्ष्य वै।
sa ca jyeṣṭho naraśreṣṭha sagarasyātmasambhavaḥ | bālān gṛhītvā tu jale sarayvā raghunandana || prakṣipya prahasan nityaṃ majjatas tān samīkṣya vai ||
And that elder son of Sagara, born of his own body—O best of men, O Raghunandana—would seize children and fling them into the waters of the Sarayū; and, watching them drown, he would laugh again and again.
O best among men, delight of the Raghus (in the mean time) sagara's eldest son Asamanjasa, used to seize hold of children and throw them into the waters of river Sarayu. And while they were drowning, he was laughing.
Dharma rejects cruelty and harm to innocents; delighting in others’ suffering is presented as a clear mark of adharma, especially grave when done by one of royal lineage.
The narrative describes Asamañjasa’s violent misconduct toward children at the Sarayū, setting up the reason for his later punishment.
By contrast (through negation), the virtue emphasized is compassion and protection of the vulnerable—expected of princes and rulers.