Shloka 23
Gautama’s Flight, the Enchanted Grove, and the Arrival of Rājadharma
Nāḍījaṅgha
नानन््त: शक््यो गुणानां च वक्तुं सत्यस्य पार्थिव | अतः: सत्यं प्रशंसन्ति विप्रा: सपितृदेवता:
anantaḥ śakyo guṇānāṃ ca vaktuṃ satyasya pārthiva | ataḥ satyaṃ praśaṃsanti viprāḥ sa-pitṛ-devatāḥ pṛthvīnātha ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: «Oh rey, las virtudes de la verdad son infinitas y no pueden describirse por completo. Por eso los brāhmaṇas sabios—junto con los Pitṛs y los dioses—alaban la verdad, oh señor de la tierra».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Truthfulness (satya) is presented as an inexhaustible virtue whose benefits cannot be fully enumerated; hence it is upheld as a central pillar of dharma, praised by the learned and sanctioned by both ancestral and divine authorities.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma addresses the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) and emphasizes the supreme value of truth, framing it as universally revered—by brāhmaṇas, the Pitṛs, and the gods.