Ramayana — Yuddha Kanda, Sarga 83, Shloka 18
त्र्यशीतितमः सर्गः (Sarga 83)
Hanumān Reports Sītā’s ‘Slaying’; Rāma Collapses; Lakṣmaṇa’s Counter-Discourse on Dharma and Artha
तस्य च व्यसनाभावाद्व्यसनंचागतेत्वयि ।धर्मोभवत्यधर्मश्चपरस्परविरोधिनौ ।।6.83.18।।
tasya ca vyasanābhāvād vyasanaṃ cāgate tvayi |
dharmo bhavaty adharmaś ca paraspara-virodhinau ||6.83.18||
既然他无有困厄，而困厄却临到你身上，正法与不义——彼此相违——仿佛互换了位置。
"The righteous attains the benefit through righteous means, and the unrighteous suffer by unrighteous means. If unrighteousness is rooted in the unrighteous and are pleased with unrighteousness they will be deprived of the result of righteousness. It is not otherwise."
FAQs
It highlights the apparent inversion of moral outcomes—an argument often used to deny dharma’s governance when the wicked prosper and the good suffer.
The speaker interprets the contrast between Rāvaṇa’s ease and the hero’s hardship as evidence of moral disorder.
The hero’s endurance (kṣānti/dhairya) is implicitly tested: will he remain aligned with dharma despite ‘inverted’ results?