Shloka 4.24.16
वालिवधोत्तरशोकः — Sugriva’s Remorse and Tara’s Lament after Vali’s Death
पापस्य कर्ताऽस्मि विगर्हितस्यक्षुद्रस्य लोकापकृतस्य चैव।शोको महान्मामभिवर्ततेऽयंवृष्टेर्यथा निम्नमिवाम्बुवेगः।।
nārhāmi sammānam imaṃ prajānāṃ na yauvarājyaṃ kuta eva rājyam |
adharmayuktaṃ kulanāśayuktam evaṃvidhaṃ rāghava karma kṛtvā ||
O Rāghava, having done such a deed—bound up with adharma and ruinous to the clan—I do not deserve the people’s honor, nor the rank of heir-apparent; what then of kingship itself?
'I have committed a sin which is condemned by the world. This intense grief has engulfed me just as the flow of rain water inundates the low-lying area when it rains.
Political authority must rest on dharma; when one’s conduct is unrighteous and destructive, one loses moral legitimacy for honor and rule.
Sugrīva evaluates his right to rule after Vāli’s death and concludes that his moral fault disqualifies him.
Conscience and self-governance—measuring kingship by ethical fitness rather than power.