Shloka 4.24.17
वालिवधोत्तरशोकः — Sugriva’s Remorse and Tara’s Lament after Vali’s Death
सोदर्यघातापरगात्रवालःसन्तापहस्ताक्षिशिरोविषाणः।एनोमयो मामभिहन्ति हस्तीदृप्तो नदीकूलमिव प्रवृद्धः।।।।
pāpasya kartā 'smi vigarhitasya kṣudrasya lokāpakṛtasya caiva |
śoko mahān mām abhivartate 'yaṃ vṛṣṭer yathā nimnam ivāmbu-vegaḥ ||
I have committed a sin—condemned, petty, and harmful to the world; and now a great sorrow overwhelms me, like the rush of rainwater flooding into low ground.
'The elephant of sin (hanging heavily on me) has a tail of treacherous killing of one's own brother, which has resulted in deep sorrow in the form of a trunk, eyes, head and tusks.This elephant is striking at me as he would strike the bank of a river when he grows strong and gets puffed up with the pride of energy. (The idea of a proud elephant striking at the target is superimposed on the sin committed by Sugriva.The animal's tail is the killing of a brother. Sugriva's remorse spreads all over the body trunk, eyes, head and tusks of the animal. As a proud elephant strikes at the river bank the sin is striking at Sugriva to destroy him. The Rupaka here is perfect and total).
Adharma brings inevitable inner consequence: sorrow and self-condemnation follow harmful acts, showing that dharma is also an internal moral order.
Sugrīva describes the psychological aftermath of Vāli’s death: grief surges and cannot be contained.
Moral awareness—recognizing the deed as blameworthy rather than rationalizing it.