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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.48.11

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 48: Jaṭāyu confronts Rāvaṇa. The aged vulture condemns the abduction, demands Sītā’s release and challenges the armed ruler despite his own disadvantage

In the sequence: he reminds Rāvaṇa that subjects follow their King's example and that power cannot endure through wrongdoing

3.48.11

kāmasvabhāvo yo yasya na sa śakyaḥ pramārjitum
na hi duṣṭātmanām ārya mā vasaty ālaye ciram

'A man's inborn disposition cannot be wiped away. Yet mark this, noble sir: Fortune does not abide for long in the house of the wicked.'

Words: kāmasvabhāvo — inborn disposition; yo — which; yasya — of whom; na — not; sa — it; śakyaḥ — able (to be); pramārjitum — to be wiped away, effaced; na — not; hi — indeed; duṣṭātmanām — of the evil-souled; ārya — O noble one; mā — Fortune (Lakṣmī); vasaty — dwells; ālaye — in the abode; ciram — for long

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.