Mahabharata 13.150.7

13.150.7

spraṣṭumapyasamartho hi jvalantamiva pāvakam |
adharmaḥ satato dharmaṃ kālena parirakṣitam || 7 ||

One should, therefore, know that the soul which is righteous is certainly pure (i.e., freed from the element of evil and misery). As regards Unrighteousness, it may be said that, even when of large proportions, it is incapable of even touching Righteousness which is always protected by Time and which shines like a blazing fire. These are the two results achieved by Righteousness, viz., the stainlessness of the soul and unsusceptibility of being touched by Unrighteousness. Verily, Righteousness is fraught with victory. Its effulgence is so great that it illumines the three worlds. A man of wisdom cannot catch hold of a sinful person and forcibly cause him to become righteous. When seriously urged to act righteously, the sinful only act with hypocrisy, impelled by fear. They that are righteous among the Sudras never betake themselves to such hypocrisy under the plea that persons of the Sudra order are not permitted to live according to any of the four prescribed modes. I shall tell thee particularly what the duties truly are of the four orders. So far as their bodies are concerned, the individuals belonging to all the four orders have the five primal elements for the constituent ingredients. Indeed, in this respect, they are all of the same substance. For all that, distinctions exist between them in respect of both practices relating to life or the world and the duties of righteousness.