Shloka 25
Gautama’s Flight, the Enchanted Grove, and the Arrival of Rājadharma
Nāḍījaṅgha
उपैति सत्याद् दान॑ हि तथा यज्ञा: सदक्षिणा: । त्रेताग्निहोत्रं वेदाश्न ये चानन््ये धर्मनिश्चया:
upaiti satyād dānaṁ hi tathā yajñāḥ sadakṣiṇāḥ | tretāgnihotraṁ vedāś ca ye cānanye dharmaniścayāḥ ||
قال بهيشما: بالصدق وحده ينال المرءُ من الثواب مثل ما يناله بالصدقة، وبالقرابين (اليَجْنَة) المؤدّاة مع الدَّكْشِنا على وجهها، وبحفظ النيران المقدّسة الثلاث مع القرابين اليومية، وبدرس الفيدا، بل وبمطالعة سائر المصنّفات المعتبرة التي تُحكِم القول في الدَّرما.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Truthfulness (satya) is taught as a comprehensive virtue whose spiritual fruit equals that of major religious disciplines—charity, properly endowed sacrifices, maintaining the three fires with agnihotra, and study of the Vedas and other dharma-authoritative texts.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma continues advising Yudhishthira by ranking and synthesizing virtues: he emphasizes that inner moral integrity—truth—can yield the same merit people seek through elaborate rituals and extensive scriptural learning.