Shloka 56
तस्य पूर्व रथ: पृथ्व्याश्चतुरड्गुलमुच्छित: । बभूवैव॑ं च तेनोक्ते तस्य वाहा: स्पृशन्महीम्,इसके पहले युधिष्ठिरका रथ पृथ्वीसे चार अंगुल ऊँचे रहा करता था, किंतु उस दिन उनके इस प्रकार असत्य बोलते ही उनके रथके घोड़े धरतीका स्पर्श करके चलने लगे
tasya pūrvaṁ rathaḥ pṛthivyāś catur-aṅgulam ucchritaḥ | babhūvaivaṁ ca tenokte tasya vāhāḥ spṛśan mahīm ||
قال سنجيا: «كان مركبُه من قبلُ يرتفع عن الأرض قدرَ أربعِ أصابع. لكن في ذلك اليوم، ما إن نطق على تلك الصورة—مُفارِقًا صدقَ الحقّ الخالص—حتى أخذت خيولُه تسير وهي تمسّ الأرض.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that adherence to truth (satya) sustains spiritual merit and moral authority, while even a constrained or strategic deviation from truth produces an immediate ethical consequence—symbolized by the chariot losing its miraculous elevation and returning to ordinary contact with the earth.
Sañjaya reports a sign concerning Yudhiṣṭhira: his chariot, previously hovering four aṅgulas above the ground due to his exceptional righteousness, loses that elevation at the moment he speaks in a way that is not fully truthful; thereafter the horses proceed while touching the earth.