Shloka 8

Adhyāya 223: Nāradasya Guṇa-kathana

Catalogue of Nārada’s Virtues

Devanagari script

ब्रह्मोवाच नैतत्‌ ते साधु मघवन्‌ यदेनमनुपृच्छसि । पृष्टस्तु नानृतं ब्रूयात्‌ तस्माद्‌ वक्ष्यामि ते बलिम्‌

Transliteration

brahmovāca naitat te sādhu maghavan yadenam anupṛcchasi | pṛṣṭas tu nānṛtaṃ brūyāt tasmād vakṣyāmi te balim ||

Translation

Brahmā dit : « Ô Maghavan, il ne te sied pas de m’interroger ainsi à son sujet. Toutefois, lorsqu’on est questionné, on ne doit pas proférer de mensonge ; c’est pourquoi je te parlerai de Bali. »

Word by Word

• {'brahmovāca': 'Brahmā said', 'naitat': 'this is not', 'te': 'for you / to you', 'sādhu': 'proper, right, commendable', 'maghavan': 'O Maghavan (epithet of Indra, ‘the bountiful’)', 'yad': 'that / because', 'enam': 'him (accusative pronoun)', 'anupṛcchasi': 'you question, you inquire after', 'pṛṣṭaḥ': 'when asked

• one who has been questioned', 'tu': 'but, however', 'na': 'not', 'anṛtam': 'falsehood, untruth', 'brūyāt': 'should say/speak (optative)', 'tasmāt': 'therefore, for that reason', 'vakṣyāmi': 'I shall tell', 'balim': 'Bali (proper name

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā
• Indra (Maghavan)
• Bali

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even if a question is improper or unwelcome, the dharma of speech emphasizes that one who is asked should not respond with falsehood; truthfulness is upheld as an ethical obligation in dialogue.

What is happening in the narrative?

Indra (addressed as Maghavan) questions Brahmā about Bali. Brahmā cautions that such inquiry is not fitting, yet, bound by the principle that one should not lie when questioned, he agrees to disclose information about Bali.