Shloka 4.24.7
वालिवधोत्तरशोकः — Sugriva’s Remorse and Tara’s Lament after Vali’s Death
श्रेयोऽद्य मन्ये मम शैलमुख्येतस्मिन्निवासश्चिरमृश्यमूके।यथा तथा वर्तयतस्स्ववृत्त्यानेमं निहत्य त्रिदिवस्य लाभः।।
śreyo 'dya manye mama śaila-mukhye tasmin nivāsaś ciram ṛśyamūke |
yathā tathā vartayatas sva-vṛttyā n' emaṃ nihatya tridivasya lābhaḥ ||
Today I think it would have been better for me to dwell long on that foremost mountain, Ṛśyamūka, living as best I could by my own means, rather than ‘gaining heaven’ as the reward of having slain him.
'I now feel dwelling long on the great mountain Rishyamuka as usual and somehow eking out a livelihood is preferable to attaining heaven as a sequel to the death of my brother.
Dharma values a modest life without wrongdoing over any ‘profit’ gained through harm; even heavenly reward is rejected if it rests on unrighteous violence.
Sugrīva contrasts his earlier exile-life on Ṛśyamūka with the moral burden that followed Vāli’s death.
Moral discernment born of remorse: Sugrīva recognizes that ends do not purify wrongful means.