Shloka 25
मारीचोपदेशः — Maricha’s Counsel to Ravana
On Rama’s Dharma and the Peril of Abduction
अहं तु मन्ये तव न क्षमं रणे समागमं कोसलराजसूनुना।इदं हि भूयश्श़ृणु वाक्यमुत्तमं क्षमं च युक्तं च निशाचरेश्वर।।।।
ahaṃ tu manye tava na kṣamaṃ raṇe samāgamaṃ kosalarājasūnunā |
idaṃ hi bhūyaḥ śṛṇu vākyam uttamaṃ kṣamaṃ ca yuktaṃ ca niśācareśvara ||
ส่วนข้าพเจ้าเห็นว่า ไม่สมควรแก่ท่านที่จะเผชิญหน้ารบกับพระโอรสแห่งกษัตริย์โกศล ขอท่านจงฟังถ้อยคำอันประเสริฐนี้อีกครั้ง—ทั้งเหมาะควรและมีเหตุผล โอ้เจ้าเหนือเหล่านิศาจรผู้ท่องราตรี
A king who is a slave to passion, who is of bad conduct, of wicked thoughts, advised in evil ways destroys himself, his kith and kin and the entire kingdom.
FAQs
Dharma includes restraint and choosing the reasonable course (yukta); one should not enter a war that is unjust or disastrously imprudent.
Mārīca concludes his warning by advising Rāvaṇa that confronting Rama in battle is improper and irrational, urging him to heed sound counsel.
The virtue of listening to wise, fitting advice—placing reason and propriety above ego and desire.