Ramayana — Yuddha Kanda, Sarga 83, Shloka 20
त्र्यशीतितमः सर्गः (Sarga 83)
Hanumān Reports Sītā’s ‘Slaying’; Rāma Collapses; Lakṣmaṇa’s Counter-Discourse on Dharma and Artha
धर्मेणोपलभेद्धर्ममधर्मंचाप्यधर्मतः ।यद्यधर्मेणयुज्येयुर्येष्वधर्मःप्रतिष्ठितः ।।6.83.19।।यदिधर्मेणवियुज्येरन्नधर्मरुचयोजनाः ।धर्मेणचरतांधर्मंचैषांधर्मफलंभवेत् ।।6.83.20।।
yadi dharmeṇa viyujyeran adharma-rucayo janāḥ |
dharmeṇa caratāṃ dharmaṃ caiṣāṃ dharma-phalaṃ bhavet ||6.83.20||
若喜爱不义之人能与正法相离，则奉行正法者必得正法，而正法之果亦必真实现前于他们。
"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 asserts that dharma has its own fruit, but its fruition depends on consistent alignment with dharma (and not mingling with adharma).
Continuation of a moral-logic response: the speaker frames dharma’s results as real, countering the earlier claim that outcomes are random.
Śīla (ethical habit): living steadily by dharma so that dharma’s results can manifest.