Shloka 4.17.3
वालिवधः — Vālī’s Fall and Dharma-Accusation (Kiṣkindhā Sarga 17)
तस्मिन्निपतिते भूमौ वानराणां गणेश्वरे।नष्टचन्द्रमिव व्योम न व्यराजत भूतलम्।।
vayaṃ vanacarā rāma mṛgā mūlaphalāśanāḥ | eṣā prakṛtir asmākaṃ puruṣas tvaṃ nareśvaraḥ || 4.17.29 ||
We are forest-dwellers, Rāma—like beasts living on roots and fruits; such is our nature. But you are a man, a lord among men.
When the lord of the monkey troops fell down, it was as though the earth lost itsbrightness like the sky loses its brightness devoid of the Moon.
Greater responsibility with higher status: a human ruler is held to stricter moral standards than forest creatures acting by instinct.
Vāli contrasts vānaras’ natural life with Rāma’s human kingship to question the propriety of Rāma’s action.
Moral restraint: the expectation that a ruler governs impulses and acts by dharma.