Shloka 6.87.16
न्यग्रोध-प्रवेश-निवारणम् (Preventing Indrajit’s Banyan-Tree Rite) / Indrajit Confronts Vibhishana
यसस्स्वपक्षंपरित्यज्यपरपक्षंनिषेवते ।स स्वपक्षेक्ष्यंप्राप्तेपश्चास्त्तैरेवहन्यते ।।6.87.16।।
yaḥ sa svapakṣaṃ parityajya parapakṣaṃ niṣevate | sa svapakṣe kṣayaṃ prāpte paścāt tair eva hanyate ||6.87.16||
Whoever abandons his own side and attaches himself to the other side—when ruin comes upon his former party, he is afterward destroyed by those very people whose side he sought.
"He who renounces his own kind and seeks refuge from others, will be destroyed by others whose refuge he sought when his own people are destroyed."
It states a pragmatic ethic of distrust: betrayal invites retaliation. The Ramayana’s dharmic lens refines this—true refuge is not opportunism but alignment with satya; hence Vibhīṣaṇa’s protection under Rāma is portrayed as secure because it rests on righteousness.
Indrajit warns Vibhīṣaṇa that defectors are ultimately destroyed by the very camp they join, attempting to intimidate him back into Laṅkā’s cause.
Forethought about consequences (as Indrajit argues), while the epic emphasizes Vibhīṣaṇa’s higher virtue: trusting dharma and the truthful protector (Rāma).