Ramayana — Sundara Kanda, Sarga 21, Shloka 23
सीताया रावणं प्रति धर्मोपदेशः
Sita’s Dharmic Admonition to Ravana
वर्जयेद्वज्रमुत्सृष्टं वर्जयेदन्तकश्चिरम्।।।।त्वद्विधं तु न सङ्कृद्धो लोकनाथः स राघवः।
varjayed vajram utsṛṣṭaṃ varjayed antakaś ciram | tvadvidhaṃ tu na saṅkruddho lokanāthaḥ sa rāghavaḥ ||
उत्सृष्टं वज्रमपि कदाचित् लक्ष्यं वर्जयेत्; अन्तकश्चापि चिरं विलम्बयेत्। किन्तु लोकनाथो राघवः त्वद्विधं प्रति सङ्कृद्धो न कदाचन क्षमते॥
"A thunderbolt may spare its target, Yama, lord of death may spare for a long time the life of a person doomed. But Rama, the lord of the world, will not spare any one when enraged.
FAQs
Adharma invites inevitable accountability: power gained through wrongdoing cannot shield one from righteous justice when it is awakened.
In Aśoka-vana, Sītā rebukes Rāvaṇa and warns him of Rāma’s unstoppable retribution if he persists in unrighteousness.
Sītā’s fearlessness and steadfast truth-speaking (satya-vacana) in the face of coercion.