Shloka 21
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
भीष्म उवाच यत् किंचित् कर्म मानुष्यं संस्थानाय प्रदृश्यते । मन्त्रवन्मन्त्रितं तस्थ मृषावादस्तु पातक:
bhīṣma uvāca yat kiñcit karma mānuṣyaṃ saṃsthānāya pradṛśyate | mantravanmantritaṃ tastha mṛṣāvādastu pātakaḥ ||
Bhishma dit : «Toute action humaine que l’on voit entreprise pour établir l’ordre et la stabilité, fût-elle menée avec le secret et la délibération d’un conseil, pourtant—la parole mensongère est un péché.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when an action is aimed at establishing social order and is carefully planned in counsel, speaking falsehood remains morally blameworthy; the end does not automatically sanctify the means of lying.
Bhishma is instructing on dharma, emphasizing ethical limits within statecraft and deliberation: policy may be planned in secret counsel, but deliberate falsehood is still counted as a pātaka (sin).