NOTE. This was totally unnecessary on Mārīca’s part. He was already shot and literally about to die. There was no good reason for him at that moment to obey Rāvaṇa’s instruction to alarm Sītā-devī to such an extent that she would forcefully send Lakṣmaṇa away; after all, how could Rāvaṇa punish Mārīca for disobeying him after Mārīca had died?

But, as the saying goes, vināśa-kāle viparīta-buddhiḥ: “At the time of destruction, one’s intelligence becomes perverted.” And so Mārīca miscalculated his risk-benefit ratio and unnecessarily obeyed Rāvaṇa’s instruction at the moment of his death. What good did Mārīca personally achieve by obeying Rāvaṇa at this instant? Nothing. On the other hand, had he surrendered unto Lord Rāmacandra like Indra’s son Jayanta (as it will be described in the Fifth Canto of this work), the Supreme Personality of Godhead would have forgiven him and spiritually redeemed him because the Supreme Lord has explicitly promised that if one sincerely and fully surrenders unto Him, He will take full charge of such a soul. This is clarified by Prabhupāda in his purport to Bhagavad-gītā 12.6-7:

The conclusion of Bhagavad-gītā is stated in the Eighteenth Chapter:

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

One should give up all other processes of self-realization and simply execute devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That will enable one to reach the highest perfection of life. There is no need for one to consider the sinful actions of his past life, because the Supreme Lord fully takes charge of him. Therefore one should not futilely try to deliver himself in spiritual realization. Let everyone take shelter of the supreme omnipotent Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. That is the highest perfection of life.

Prabhupāda also explains in his purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.2.26 that the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa is satya-vrata, that is, ever-truthful to His vows:

The Lord demands that one surrender unto Him (sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja), and He further says:

sakṛd eva prapanno yas
tavāsmīti ca yācate
abhayaṁ sarvadā tasmai
dadāmy etad vrataṁ mama

“If a person once surrenders unto Me sincerely, saying, ‘My Lord, from this day I am fully surrendered unto You,’ I always give him protection. That is My vow.” (Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha-kāṇḍa 12.20) The demigods offered their prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He had now appeared in the womb of His devotee Devakī to protect all the devotees harassed by Kaṁsa and his lieutenants. Thus the Lord acts as satyavrata.

So Mārīca could have done what Jayanta did—surrender—because not only is the Supreme Being truthful to His vows, He is always truthful, as noted by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 2.1.67-68:

syān nānṛtaṁ vaco yasya satya-vākyaḥ sa kathyate

“A person whose words are never false is called a satya-vākya, or ‘speaker of the truth.’”

pṛthe tanaya-pañcakaṁ prakaṭam arpayiṣyāmi te
raṇorvaritam ity abhūt tava yathārtham evoditam
ravir bhavati śītalaḥ kumuda-bandhur apy uṣṇalas
tathāpi na murāntaka vyabhicariṣṇur uktis tava

[Kunti said:] “Murari, You said, ‘I will bring back your five sons to you alive from the battlefield, O Kunti!’ Your statement has come true. Even though the sun may become cold and the moon hot, Your words will never be false.”¹

But because of Mārīca’s defective association, that is, his respectful association with Rāvaṇa, despite his budding respect and devotion to Lord Rāma, he blundered at the last moment by not surrendering unto Him.

This can be taken as a warning for those who try to upgrade their devotional service to pure sādhana-bhakti in order to progress to pure bhāva-bhakti and then to pure prema-bhakti. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has emphatically taught that association with committed nondevotees must be absolutely avoided by such sādhakas. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī and Śrīla Prabhupāda, during their manifest presence, have carefully demonstrated and trained their disciples on how to avoid association that harms oneself and the world.

In this regard, the following remarks of Prabhupāda concerning the third life of Bharata Mahārāja are relevant:

He did not mix with anyone who was not a devotee. This process should be adopted by every devotee. As advised by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: asat-saṅga-tyāga-ei vaiṣṇava-ācāra [Cc. Madhya 22.87]. One should strictly avoid the company of nondevotees, even though they may be family members. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.9 summary)