Shloka 65
पापेभ्यो हि धनं दत्तं दातारमपि पीडयेत् । जहाँतक वश चले, किसी तरह उन लुटेरोंको धन नहीं देना चाहिये; क्योंकि पापियोंको दिया हुआ धन दाताको भी दुःख देता है ।। ६४ $ ।। तस्माद् धर्मार्थमनृतमुक्त्वा नानृतभाग् भवेत्,एतच्छुत्वा ब्रूहि पार्थ यदि वध्यो युधिष्ठिर: । अतः धर्मके लिये झूठ बोलनेपर मनुष्य असत्यभाषणके दोषका भागी नहीं होता। अर्जुन! मैं तुम्हारा हित चाहता हूँ, इसलिये आज मैंने अपनी बुद्धि और धर्मके अनुसार संक्षेपसे तुम्हारे लिये यह विधिपूर्वक धर्माधर्मके निर्णयका संकेत बताया है। यह सुनकर अब तुम्हीं बताओ, क्या अब भी राजा युधिष्ठिर तुम्हारे वध्य हैं
pāpebhyo hi dhanaṃ dattaṃ dātāram api pīḍayet | yāvatakaṃ vaśaṃ cale, kathaṃcid api tān luṭerān dhanaṃ na dātavyaṃ; yato hi pāpiṣu dattaṃ dhanaṃ dātāram api duḥkhayati || tasmād dharmārtham anṛtam uktvā nānṛtabhāg bhavet; etac chrutvā brūhi pārtha yadi vadhyo yudhiṣṭhiraḥ ||
Vāyu said: “Wealth given to the wicked ends up tormenting even the giver. Therefore, as far as one has any control, one should not give money to such plunderers, for what is given to sinners returns as suffering to the donor. Hence, when a falsehood is spoken for the sake of dharma, a person does not incur the share of the fault of untruth. Having heard this, tell me, O Pārtha: is Yudhiṣṭhira still to be slain?”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage distinguishes between harmful giving and righteous speech: giving wealth to the wicked rebounds as suffering for the donor, and speaking an untruth specifically to protect or uphold dharma is presented as not incurring the ordinary moral fault of falsehood.
Vāyudeva addresses Arjuna, offering ethical guidance relevant to the battlefield: avoid empowering wrongdoers, and consider that a strategic untruth aimed at preserving dharma may be morally exempt. He then presses Arjuna to judge whether Yudhiṣṭhira should still be treated as a legitimate target for killing.