Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 41: Mārīca Again Criticizes Rāvaṇa
Text 3.41.11
राज्यं पालयितुं शक्यं न तीक्ष्णेन निशाचर।
न चापि प्रतिकूलेन नाविनीतेन राक्षस॥
rājyaṁ pālayituṁ śakyaṁ na tīkṣṇena niśācara
na cāpi pratikūlena nāvinītena rākṣasa
rājyam = a kingdom; pālayitum śakyam = can maintain; na = neither; tīkṣṇena = a person who imposes cruel punishments; niśācara = O night-ranger; na ca api = nor; pratikūlena = one disliked by his subjects; na = nor; avinītena = one who has not conquered his senses 1; rākṣasa = rākṣasa.
O night-ranger rākṣasa, neither a person who imposes cruel punishments, nor one disliked by his subjects nor one who has not conquered his senses can maintain a kingdom.1
1. Community managers can derive important insights from this verse. If they cruelly award punishment to miscreant members of their communities or if they are factually disliked by their community members or if they succumb to the six urges referred to by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Upadeśāmṛta, they cannot successfully manage their communities. They will neither be able to consistently provide for enterprise and security (yoga-kṣema) for their communities nor will they be able to facilitate the material or spiritual progress of their community members. Another point: “night-ranger rākṣasa” appears to indicate that Rāvaṇa was a rākṣasa both in the biological sense and by nature.