Shloka 19
कालयुक्तधर्मविवेकः
Discerning Dharma in Accord with Time
उमाने पूछा--निष्पाप भूतनाथ! महादेव! कैसी वाणी बोलने अथवा उस वाणीद्वधारा कौन-सा कर्म करनेसे मनुष्य बन्धनमें पड़ता या उस बन्धनसे छुटकारा पा जाता है? उन वाचिक कर्मोंका मुझसे वर्णन कीजिये ।।
śrīmaheśvara uvāca | ātmahetoḥ parārthaṃ vā narmahāsyāśrayāt tathā | ye mṛṣā na vadantīha te narāḥ svargagāminaḥ ||
Śrī Maheśvara said: “Whether for one’s own advantage or for another’s, even when taking refuge in jest and playful banter, those people who do not speak falsehood here—such men attain heaven.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Truthfulness in speech is a firm ethical duty: even joking, teasing, or speaking for one’s own or another’s benefit does not justify lying. Those who refrain from falsehood even under such pretexts gain merit leading to heaven.
In response to Umā’s inquiry about what kinds of speech bind a person and what frees them, Maheśvara states a specific standard: people who do not utter lies—whether for self-interest, for others, or under the cover of humor—are praised as heaven-bound.