Shloka 31
Go-dāna-phala-nirdeśa
Merit and Destinations from the Gift of Cows
सत्यके प्रभावसे सूर्य तपते हैं, सत्यसे अग्नि प्रजजलित होती है और सत्यसे ही वायुका सर्वत्र संचार होता है; क्योंकि सब कुछ सत्यपर ही टिका हुआ है ।।
satyena prabhavena sūryas tapate, satyena agniḥ prajvalito bhavati, satyena ca vāyor sarvatrābhisañcāraḥ; yataḥ sarvaṃ satye pratiṣṭhitam. satyena devāḥ prīyante pitaro brāhmaṇās tathā. satyam āhuḥ paro dharmas tasmāt satyaṃ na laṅghayet.
Bhīṣma said: “By the power of truth the sun gives heat; by truth the fire blazes; and by truth the wind moves everywhere—for everything stands established upon truth. By truth the gods are pleased, and so too the ancestors and the brāhmaṇas. Truth is declared to be the highest dharma; therefore one should never transgress truth.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Truth (satya) is presented as the supreme dharma and the very foundation of cosmic functioning; therefore one should not violate truth, since it sustains the world and pleases gods, ancestors, and brāhmaṇas.
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he emphasizes truthfulness by linking natural forces (sun, fire, wind) and religious stakeholders (devas, pitṛs, brāhmaṇas) to the sustaining power of satya.