Shloka 35
कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira
भवेत् सत्यमवक्तव्यं न वक्तव्यमनुछितम् । सत्यानृते विनिश्चित्य ततो भवति धर्मवित्
bhavet satyam avaktavyaṃ na vaktavyam anucitam | satyānṛte viniścitya tato bhavati dharmavit ||
Śrī Kṛṣṇa sprach: „Es gibt Zeiten, da ist etwas zwar sachlich wahr, doch sollte nicht ausgesprochen werden; und Ungehöriges darf nicht geäußert werden. Man soll zuerst sorgfältig zwischen Wahrheit und Unwahrheit unterscheiden und dann dem Weg folgen, der in seinem Ergebnis die Wahrheit wahrt. Wer so mit Unterscheidung handelt, ist der wahre Kenner des Dharma.“
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Truthfulness is not merely stating facts; speech must be guided by dharma. A statement may be factually true yet harmful or improper to utter. One should judge truth and untruth with discernment and choose the course whose result upholds righteousness—this practical wisdom marks a dharma-knower.
In the Karṇa Parva context of battlefield counsel, Śrī Kṛṣṇa instructs about ethical speech under crisis: do not speak even ‘truth’ if it is unfit or leads to unrighteous outcomes; instead, decide carefully what truly serves dharma in result.