Shloka 1.51.6
शतानन्दोपदेशः — Śatānanda’s Welcome to Rāma and the Prelude to Viśvāmitra’s History
अपि रामाय कथितं यथावृत्तं पुरातनम्।मम मातुर्महातेजो दैवेन दुरनुष्ठितम्।।।।
api rāmāya kathitaṁ yathāvṛttaṁ purātanam |
mama mātur mahātejo daivena duranuṣṭhitam ||
O great-souled one, was Rāma told the ancient account just as it truly happened—how, through a god’s transgression, my mother was grievously wronged?
O highly powerful sage, was Rama told the old story about the misdeed of god (Indra) to my mother?
Satya (truth) is central: the story should be told ‘as it happened’ (yathāvṛtta). Dharma requires truthful narration and moral clarity about wrongdoing, even when the wrongdoer is ‘divine’ in status.
Śatānanda asks whether Viśvāmitra has already explained to Rāma the old account of Ahalyā’s suffering caused by a divine transgression (commonly understood as Indra’s).
Commitment to truth and moral discernment: acknowledging wrongdoing plainly and transmitting the account accurately.