Shloka 48
Adhyaya 3 — The Dharmapakshis’ Past-Life Curse and Indra’s Test of Truthfulness
न यज्ञैर्दक्षिणावद्भिस्तत् पुण्यं प्राप्यते महत् ।
कर्मणान्येन वा विप्रैर्यत् सत्यपरिपालनात् ॥
na yajñair dakṣiṇāvadbhis tat puṇyaṃ prāpyate mahat |
karmaṇānyena vā viprair yat satyaparipālanāt ||
Jenes große Verdienst wird nicht durch Opfer mit Priestergebühren erlangt, noch durch irgendeine andere Handlung der Brahmanen, in demselben Maße, wie es durch das standhafte Bewahren der Wahrheit erlangt wird.
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FAQs
Truthfulness (satya) is presented as a higher, more potent source of puṇya than even well-endowed sacrificial ritual. The verse critiques mere ritual achievement—especially when measured by offerings and fees—and elevates integrity and fidelity to truth as the decisive foundation of dharma.
This verse aligns most closely with Dharma/Ācāra instruction rather than the five cosmological-historical markers. Within Pancalakṣaṇa mapping, it is ancillary ethical teaching (not sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa/manvantara/vaṃśānucarita), commonly embedded in Purāṇas to guide conduct alongside narrative and chronology.
Esoterically, ‘satya-paripālana’ implies alignment of speech, intention, and action with reality (ṛta/satya). Such alignment is treated as an inner yajña: the ‘offering’ is the ego’s impulse to distort, and the ‘dakṣiṇā’ is self-restraint. The verse thus points to an internalized sacrificial model where moral truth becomes the highest oblation.