Shloka 16
Matsya Purana — Yayāti in Amarāvatī-like Splendor: Devayānī Installed
*शर्मिष्ठोवाच न नर्मयुक्तं वचनं हिनस्ति न स्त्रीषु राजन् न विवाहकाले प्राणात्यये सर्वधनापहारे पञ्चानृतान्याहुर् अपातकानि //
*śarmiṣṭhovāca na narmayuktaṃ vacanaṃ hinasti na strīṣu rājan na vivāhakāle prāṇātyaye sarvadhanāpahāre pañcānṛtānyāhur apātakāni //
Śarmiṣṭhā said: “A statement spoken in jest does not harm; nor (does an untruth) in matters concerning women, O king, nor at the time of marriage. In danger to life, and when all one’s wealth is being taken away—these five kinds of untruth, they say, are not sin-causing offences.”
FAQs
Nothing directly—this verse is ethical instruction (dharma) about speech, not a cosmological teaching on pralaya.
It frames a dharma-based exception: truthfulness is the norm, yet certain crisis or socially sensitive contexts (joking speech, marriage arrangements, protection of life/wealth, and delicate matters involving women) are treated as non-sinful if an untruth prevents harm—guidance relevant to royal judgment and household conduct.
The only ritual context is marriage (vivāha-kāla): it implies that preserving social harmony and the rite’s successful completion can outweigh strict literal truth in limited cases; no Vāstu or temple-architecture rule is stated.