Shloka 9
ययातिपतन-कारणम् (The Cause of Yayāti’s Fall) — Nārada’s Counsel on Pride and Reconciliation
संगरेषु निपातेषु तथा तद्व्यसनेषु च । अनुृतं नोक्तपूर्व मे तेन सत्येन खं ब्रज
saṅgareṣu nipāteṣu tathā tadvyasaneṣu ca | anṛtaṃ noktapūrvaṃ me tena satyena khaṃ braja ||
Nārada said: “In battles, in moments of falling in combat, and even amid those calamities, I have never before spoken falsehood. By that truth, go to the sky—attain the heavenly realm.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Truthfulness (satya) is presented as a powerful ethical force: even amid war and disaster, maintaining unwavering truth becomes a source of spiritual merit capable of granting heavenly attainment.
Nārada makes a solemn truth-assertion (a satya-vacana): he declares he has never spoken untruth even in extreme situations like battle and calamity, and invokes that truth as a blessing or guarantee for the addressee to attain the heavenly realm.