Shloka 4.18.24
वाली–रामसंवादः (Rama’s Justification to Vali on Rājadharma)
गुरूर्धर्मव्यतिक्रान्तं प्राज्ञो धर्मेण पालयन्।।भरतः कामवृत्तानां निग्रहे पर्यवस्थितः।
gurur dharmavyatikrāntaṃ prājño dharmeṇa pālayan | bharataḥ kāmavṛttānāṃ nigrahe paryavasthitaḥ ||
Bharata—wise and worthy of reverence—rules in accordance with dharma, and he stands resolved to restrain and punish those who, driven by lust, violate dharma.
'Wise Bharata being a respectable king rules by dharma. By the command of Bharata, we are bent upon punishing those who have strayed from dharma by being addicted to sensual pleasures.
Good governance requires active restraint of desire-driven wrongdoing; dharmic rule is not passive tolerance but principled enforcement.
Rama continues his defense by invoking Bharata’s dharmic kingship as the normative standard for punishing moral transgression.
Bharata’s wisdom and firmness in rajadharma; Rama’s alignment with that standard.