Shloka 4.16.5
वालिवधः — The Slaying of Vali
न च कार्यो विषादस्ते राघवं प्रति मत्कृते।धर्मज्ञश्च कृतज्ञश्च कथं पापं करिष्यति4.16.5।।
athokṣitaś śoṇitatoyavisravaiḥ
supuṣpitāśoka ivāniloddhataḥ |
vicetano vāsavasūnur āhave
vibhraṃśitendradhvajavat kṣitiṃ gataḥ || 4.16.39 ||
Then Vāsava’s son, drenched by streams of blood flowing like water, fell unconscious in the battle—like a fully blossomed aśoka tree shaken by the wind, like Indra’s banner toppled upon the earth.
'You need not be concerned about me on account of Rama. How can one who knows dharma and who has a sense of gratitude commit sin?
The verse underscores the moral and existential truth that embodied power is fragile; dharma urges right conduct before the fall that time inevitably brings.
Vāli collapses unconscious, bleeding, and the poet uses layered similes (aśoka tree, fallen Indra-banner) to depict his downfall.
The emphasis is less on a virtue and more on a lesson: splendor and force do not protect one from consequence; ethical order ultimately prevails.