शार्दूलचरवृत्तान्तः
Saardula’s Spy-Report on Rama’s Camp and the Vanara Host
यदिमांप्रतियुध्येरन्देवगन्धर्वदानवाः ।नैवसीतांप्रदास्यामिसर्वलोकभयादपि ।।6.30.15।।
yadi māṃ pratiyudhyeran devagandharvadānavāḥ | naiva sītāṃ pradāsyāmi sarvalokabhayād api ||6.30.15||
Даже если против меня выступят девы, гандхарвы и данавы, и даже если все миры станут мне угрозой, я не отдам Ситу.
Glorious Ravana having spoken like that, again said (to Saardula), "You moved about in the army (camp) there. Tell me who among the monkeys are warriors?"
As a negative example, it shows the collapse of dharma when one clings to wrongdoing despite universal consequence; truth and justice demand restitution, not defiance.
Rāvaṇa replies to the report by declaring that no force—even divine—will compel him to return Sītā.
Not virtue but a vice: stubborn pride (ahaṅkāra) and attachment that overrides moral duty.