Shloka 73
Sabhā Parva, Adhyāya 68 — Pāṇḍavānāṃ Vanavāsa-prasthānaḥ; Duḥśāsana-nindā; Pāṇḍava-pratijñāḥ
यो वैप्रश्न॑ न विब्रूयाद् वितथं चैव निर्दिशेत् । के वै तस्य परे लोकास्तन्ममाचक्ष्व पृच्छत:
yo vai praśnaṁ na vibrūyād vitathaṁ caiva nirdiśet | ke vai tasya pare lokās tan mamācakṣva pṛcchataḥ ||
Prahlāda sprach: „Ich frage: Wer, wenn er befragt wird, entweder gar keine Antwort gibt oder absichtlich das Falsche weist — welche Welten erlangt er im Jenseits? Sage mir dies, denn ich frage dich.“
प्रह्माद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical duty of truthful and responsible speech: refusing to answer a legitimate question or giving a knowingly false reply is treated as a moral fault with consequences that extend to one’s posthumous destiny.
Prahlāda, in a dialogic setting, poses a pointed question about moral accountability: he asks what otherworldly realms await a person who evades a question or answers deceitfully, requesting the interlocutor to explain the karmic outcome.