Shloka 4.17.23
वालिवधः — Vālī’s Fall and Dharma-Accusation (Kiṣkindhā Sarga 17)
विषये वा पुरे वा ते यदा पापं करोम्यहम्।न च त्वामवजाने च कस्मात्त्वं हंस्यकिल्बिषम्।।फलमूलाशनं नित्यं वानरं वनगोचरम्।मामिहाप्रतियुध्यन्तमन्येन च समागतम्।।
viṣaye vā pure vā te yadā pāpaṃ karomy aham |
na ca tvām avajāne ca kasmāt tvaṃ haṃsy akilbiṣam ||
phalamūlāśanaṃ nityaṃ vānaraṃ vanagocaram |
mām ihāpratiyudhyantam anyena ca samāgatam ||
I have never committed any wrongdoing against your realm or your city, nor have I ever insulted you. Why, then, do you seek to kill me—one who is guiltless? I am a forest-ranging monkey, ever living on fruits and roots. Here I was not even fighting you, and yet you came in league with another and struck me.
'I did no harm to your affairs or to your city. I did not insult you. Why did you choose to kill me, a monkey roaming in the forest and living on fruits and roots? I was not fighting you. Why did you come and strike a person like me?
Vāli challenges the righteousness of being killed despite being “akilbiṣa” (without offense) and not engaged in combat against Rāma, arguing that punishment should follow proven wrongdoing and fair cause.
Vāli appeals to factual truth—he claims he did no harm to Rāma’s realm and offered no insult—implying that truthful assessment of conduct must precede any act of violence presented as just.