Mahabharata — Adi Parva, Shloka 18

Bhīṣma’s Counsel on Reconciliation and Partition (भीष्मोपदेशः—संधि-राज्यविभागविचारः)

Devanagari script

कुन्त्युवाच एवमेतद्‌ यथा प्राह धर्मचारी युधिष्ठिर: । अनृतान्मे भयं तीव्र मुच्येडहमनृतात्‌ कथम्‌

Transliteration

kunty uvāca: evam etad yathā prāha dharmacārī yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | anṛtān me bhayaṃ tīvraṃ mucyed aham anṛtāt katham ||

Translation

Kuntī dijo: «Así es, tal como ha hablado Yudhiṣṭhira, observante del dharma. Pero me asalta un agudo temor a la falsedad. ¿Cómo podré librarme del pecado de la mentira?»

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'कुन्ती उवाच (kunty uvāca)', 'definition': 'Kuntī said'}, {'term': 'एवम् एतत् (evam etat)', 'definition': 'so it is

• exactly thus'}, {'term': 'यथा (yathā)', 'definition': 'as

• in the manner that'}, {'term': 'प्राह (prāha)', 'definition': 'said

• spoke'}, {'term': 'धर्मचारी (dharmacārī)', 'definition': 'one who practices dharma

• a righteous observer of duty'}, {'term': 'युधिष्ठिरः (yudhiṣṭhiraḥ)', 'definition': 'Yudhiṣṭhira'}, {'term': 'अनृतात् (anṛtāt)', 'definition': 'from untruth

• from falsehood'}, {'term': 'मे (me)', 'definition': 'to me

• my'}, {'term': 'भयम् (bhayam)', 'definition': 'fear'}, {'term': 'तीव्रम् (tīvram)', 'definition': 'intense

• sharp'}, {'term': 'मुच्येत् / मुच्ये (mucyet / mucye)', 'definition': 'may (I) be released

• be freed'}, {'term': 'अहम् (aham)', 'definition': 'I'}, {'term': 'कथम् (katham)', 'definition': 'how?'}]

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• कुन्ती (Kuntī)
• युधिष्ठिर (Yudhiṣṭhira)
• धर्म (Dharma)
• अनृत (Untruth/falsehood)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds satya (truthfulness) as a central pillar of dharma: even when circumstances are complex, a conscientious person fears the moral stain of untruth and seeks a dharmic resolution rather than justifying a lie.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kuntī affirms Yudhiṣṭhira’s dharmic reasoning, but confesses her anxiety about having fallen into (or being implicated in) untruth; she asks how she can be released from the fault of falsehood amid a difficult family situation.