Shloka 28
Karma-Phala Rahasya and the Ethics of Dāna (कर्मफल-रहस्यं दानधर्मश्च)
भीष्म उवाच यन्मन्त्रे भवति वृथोपयुज्यमाने यत् सोमे भवति वृथाभिषूयमाणे । यच्चाग्नौ भवति वृथाभिटृ्यमाने तत् सर्व भवति वृथाभिधीयमाने
bhīṣma uvāca | yan-mantre bhavati vṛthopayujyamāne yat some bhavati vṛthābhiṣūyamāne | yac cāgnau bhavati vṛthābhihūyamāne tat sarvaṁ bhavati vṛthābhidhīyamāne ||
ভীষ্ম বললেন—যুধিষ্ঠির! বেদমন্ত্রের অপব্যবহারে যে পাপ জন্মায়, সোমযজ্ঞকে যথাযথ দান-দক্ষিণা না দিয়ে নিষ্ফল করলে যে দোষ লাগে, এবং বিধি ও মন্ত্রবিহীনভাবে অগ্নিতে নিরর্থক আহুতি দিলে যে পাপ হয়—মিথ্যা বাক্য উচ্চারণে সেই সমস্ত পাপই অর্জিত হয়।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
False speech is presented as a grave ethical transgression: the text equates the sin of lying with major ritual faults—misusing Vedic mantras, ruining the Soma-sacrifice, and offering oblations without proper rite—thereby elevating satya (truthfulness) as a central pillar of dharma.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma. Here he emphasizes the moral weight of speech by comparing the consequences of lying to well-known serious ritual errors, using sacrificial imagery to impress the king with the importance of truth.