Shloka 6.83.23
त्र्यशीतितमः सर्गः (Sarga 83) — Hanumān Reports Sītā’s ‘Slaying’; Rāma Collapses; Lakṣmaṇa’s Counter-Discourse on Dharma and Artha
अथवाविहितेनायंहन्यतेहन्तिवापरम् ।विधिरालिप्यतेतेन न स पापेनकर्मणा ।।6.83.23।।
athavā vihitena ayaṃ hanyate hanti vā param |
vidhir ālipyate tena na sa pāpena karmaṇā ||6.83.23||
Or else, a man is slain (or slays another) by what is ordained; it is destiny that becomes tainted by that, not the person by the sinful act.
"Or else if a man is destroyed by killing another, destiny which is engendered by the sinful action suffers and not the doer of sinful action."
It proposes determinism: actions are driven by destiny, shifting moral responsibility away from the agent—an idea dharma-based ethics typically resists.
The speaker offers an alternative to karmic responsibility: if everything is ‘ordained,’ then blame attaches to fate rather than the doer.
Moral agency (kartṛtva) is the contested value; the dharmic stance upholds accountable choice rather than excusing wrongdoing as fate.