Why Lord Ram refuses to be supreme god..?

Question

आत्मानं मानुषं मन्ये रामं दशरथात्मजम् || सोऽहं यस्य यतश्चाहं भगवंस्तद्ब्रवीतु मे | (Valmiki Ramayan Yudh Kand chapter 117 verse 11)

"I think of myself to be a human being, by name Rama, the son of Dasaratha. You, as a gracious Divinity, tell me that which I as such really am like this."

but in Valmiki Ramayan Yudh Kand chapter 18 verse 23

pishaacaan daanavaan yakSaan pR^ithivyaam caiva raakSasaan || anguli agreNa taan hanyaam icchan hari gaNa iishvara | (6.18.23)

“O, Sugreeva, Lord of monkey-troops! If I wish, I can kill those devilish beings, demons, supernatural beings and ogres living on earth with just a tip of my finger”

Please explain..

Answer 1

Before answering this important question, an understanding of Ravana’s boons from Lord Brahma (the creator) should be known.

What were the nature of boons of Ravana blessed by Lord Brahma? Ravana and his brothers performed penance at Gokarna(गोकर्ण) for several years to please Brahma. Ravana went so far as to sacrifice each of his heads in the holy fire to please the creator. Right before he was about to chop off his tenth head, Brahma appeared to grant him a boon. Ravana asked for the boon of immortality. Brahma said that was not possible as all that is born has to perish. So Ravana tweaked his wish as follows:

“O mighty Brahma, may I never obtain death at the hands of Devas, Asuras, Yakshas, Gandharvas, Rakshasas, and Nagas.”

Because of his pride and arrogance, Ravana did not mention humans and animals as he didn’t consider them to be a threat.

I) Your first claim: "आत्मानं मानुषं मन्ये रामं दशरथात्मजम्.......which I as such really am like this."

No comment.

II) Your second and final claim "but in Valmiki Ramayan Yudh Kand chapter 18 verse 23.......with just a tip of my finger”

Sri Rāmā simply glorifies his valour as a warrior and his statement does not imply in anyway claiming himself to be God!

Conclusion:

So Rāmāvadāra (रामावदार) was Bhagavān Vishnu’s 7th avatāra, a completely human one, otherwise Sri Rāmā could not have slayed Ravana. The Vānarās were really Devās in the animal form awaited for Sri Rāmā’s arrival at Kiṣkindhā (किष्किन्धा).

Therefore, Sri Rāmā did not claim Himself as God (or Supreme God) due to Brahma's Boon.

Answer 2

Rama was a human hero originally accepted by Hindus, Buddhists and Jainas.

By around 2 A.D, the Hindus had made him an incarnation of Vishnu after which Buddhists and Jainas stopped writing about him.

Valmiki Ramayana as it has come down to us is only partially Vaishnavized. In books II-VI Rama is largely an idealized human.

The partial Vaishnavization is starkly evident when the Gods praise Rama after the killing of Ravana - Brahma praises him as Narayana while Siva praises him as a human who will go to heaven

https://www.valmikiramayan.net/utf8/yuddha/sarga119/yuddha_119_frame.htm

आश्वास्य भरतं दीनं कौसल्यां च यशस्विनीम् | कैकेयीं च सुमित्रां च दृष्ट्वा लक्ष्मणमातरम् || ६-११९-४ प्राप्य राज्यमयोध्यायां नन्दयित्वा सुहृज्जनम् | इक्ष्वाकूणां कुले वंशं स्थापयित्वा महाबल || ६-११९-५ इष्ट्वा तुरगमेधेन प्राप्य चानुत्तमं यशः | ब्राह्मणेभ्यो धनं दत्त्वा त्रिदिवं गन्तुमर्हसि || ६-११९-६

"You are fit to go to the heaven, by comforting the depressed Bharata and the illustrious Kausalya as well as seeing Kaikeyi and Sumitra, the mother of Lakshmana having got the sovereignty of Ayodhya, bringing delight to your friends, stabilizing the back-bone in the race of Ikshvaku, getting excellent glory by performing a horse-sacrifice and by granting riches to Brahmanas."

As part of the Vaishnavization, there are also some gratuitous denigrations of Siva like the Siva-Vishnu fight in the Bala Kanda. The Door Darshan rendition of Ramayana has the war starting with Rama firing an arrow deep inside Ravana's palace to destroy a Siva-linga!

Some scholars see the Valmiki Ramayana as a foundational scripture for the Srivaishnavite sect, that regards Sharanagati to Vishnu as the highest goal of human life.