Shloka 4

Satya–Anṛta Viveka (Discrimination between Truth and Falsehood) | सत्य–अनृत विवेकः

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच सत्यस्य वचन साधु न सत्याद्‌ विद्यते परम्‌ यत्तु लोकेषु दुर्जञानं तत्‌ प्रवक्ष्यामि भारत

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | satyasya vacanaṃ sādhu na satyād vidyate param | yat tu lokeṣu durjñānaṃ tat pravakṣyāmi bhārata ||

Translation

قال بهيشما: «يا بهاراتا، إن قول الصدق شريف؛ ولا شيء أسمى من الحق. غير أنّي، يا بهاراتا، سأبيّن ما هو بالغ العسر على الناس تمييزه في هذا العالم.»

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'satyasya': 'of truth

• of the true', 'vacanam': 'speech

• statement', 'sādhu': 'good

• commendable', 'na ... vidyate': 'there is not

• it does not exist', 'param': 'higher

• beyond', 'yat tu': 'but that which', 'lokeṣu': 'in the worlds

• among people', 'durjñānam': 'hard to know

• difficult to understand', 'tat': 'that', 'pravakṣyāmi': 'I will declare

• I will explain', 'bhārata': 'O Bharata (address to Yudhiṣṭhira)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Bhārata (Yudhiṣṭhira)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Truthful speech is praised as the highest ethical principle; however, Bhishma signals that applying truth in lived social reality can be subtle and difficult, and he is about to clarify that complexity.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhishma begins a teaching segment by affirming the supremacy of truth and then introduces a forthcoming explanation of a hard-to-understand matter concerning conduct in the world.