Shloka 4.17.22
वालिवधः — Vālī’s Fall and Dharma-Accusation (Kiṣkindhā Sarga 17)
सतां वेषधरं पापं प्रच्छन्नमिव पावकम्।नाहं त्वामभिजानामि धर्मच्छद्माभिसंवृतम्।।
viṣaye vā pure vā te yadā pāpaṁ karomy aham |
na ca tvām avajāne ca kasmāt tvaṁ haṁsy akilbiṣam ||
phala-mūlāśanaṁ nityaṁ vānaraṁ vana-gocaram |
mām ihāpratiyudhyantam anyena ca samāgatam ||
When have I ever done wrong in your realm or in your city? Nor have I slighted you. Why then would you kill me—one without offense—an ape who lives always on fruits and roots and ranges the forest? Here I was not fighting you at all, but engaged with another.
'You are a sinful man covered with the mask of piety thus resembling a hidden fire. I failed to recognise that righteousness is a mere pretext for you.
Vāli appeals to just punishment: violence should be grounded in legitimate cause—offense, jurisdiction, and due ethical basis—otherwise it violates dharma and satya.
Dying, Vāli argues he neither harmed Rāma’s kingdom nor insulted him, and he was not fighting Rāma; therefore he questions the moral and political basis of Rāma’s intervention.
The virtue emphasized is justice as restraint: punishment (daṇḍa) must be proportionate and properly authorized, not driven by partiality or concealed methods.