Shloka 18
अरण्यकाण्डे द्वात्रिंशः सर्गः
Śūrpaṇakhā’s Report to Rāvaṇa and the Panegyric of His Might
देवदानवगन्धर्वपिशाचपतगोरगैः।अभयं यस्य सङ्ग्रामे मृत्युतो मानुषादृते।।।।
devadānavagandharvapiśācapatagoragaiḥ |
abhayaṃ yasya saṅgrāme mṛtyuto mānuṣād ṛte ||
ในสนามรบ เขามิได้หวาดกลัวความตายจากเทวะ ทานวะ คนธรรพ์ ปีศาจ (ปิศาจ) นก หรือพญานาคเลย—เว้นแต่จากมนุษย์เท่านั้น
He was unafraid of death in the hands of gods or demons or gandharvas or pisachas or birds or snakes in war except humans.
FAQs
No boon can cancel moral causality: adharma eventually meets its counterforce. The exception “except by humans” also elevates human responsibility—Dharma is upheld through human choice and action.
The verse explains the scope of Rāvaṇa’s near-invulnerability and foreshadows why Rāma (a human in the visible narrative frame) becomes the destined agent of justice.
Rāma’s role as the human upholder of Dharma is implicitly emphasized—human agency becomes the instrument to restore moral order.