Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 27
कालयुक्तधर्मविवेकः
Discerning Dharma in Accord with Time
एष वाणीकृतो देवि धर्म: सेव्य: सदा नरै: । शुभ: सत्यगुणो नित्यं वर्जनीयो मृषा बुचै:
eṣa vāṇīkṛto devi dharmaḥ sevyaḥ sadā naraiḥ | śubhaḥ satyaguṇo nityaṃ varjanīyo mṛṣā budhaiḥ ||
Maheshvara said: “O Goddess, this is the dharma fashioned through speech. Human beings should practice it at all times. The wise should constantly speak what is auspicious and truthful, and they should abandon falsehood.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Speech itself is a field of dharma: one should consistently cultivate auspicious and truthful words, and the wise must renounce falsehood.
Maheśvara addresses Devī and summarizes a rule of right conduct centered on speech—urging continual practice of truthful, beneficial utterance and rejection of lying.