Shloka 47

Devanagari script

स भवांस्त्रातु नो द्रोणात्‌ सत्याज्ज्यायो$नूतं वच: । अनृतं जीवितस्यार्थे वदन्न स्पृश्यतेडनृतैः,“अतः तुम द्रोणसे हमलोगोंको बचाओ; इस अवसरपर असत्यभाषणका महत्त्व सत्यसे भी बढ़कर है। किसीकी प्राणरक्षाके लिये यदि कदाचित्‌ असत्य बोलना पड़े तो उस बोलनेवालेको झूठका पाप नहीं लगता”

Transliteration

sa bhavāṁstrātu no droṇāt satyāj jyāyo’nṛtaṁ vacaḥ | anṛtaṁ jīvitas yārthe vadann na spṛśyate’nṛtaiḥ ||

Translation

サञ्जयは言った。「ゆえに、ドローナから我らを救ってください。この時にあっては、虚なる一言が真実そのものよりも重い。命を守るため、時に不実を口にせねばならぬなら、その者は虚言の罪に汚されはしない。」

Word by Word

सःhe

भवान्you (honorific)

त्रातुprotect (please protect)

नःof us / our

द्रोणात्from Droṇa

सत्यात्than/from truth

ज्यायःgreater, superior

अनूतम्new, unprecedented

वचःspeech, statement

अनृतम्untruth, falsehood

जीवितस्यof life

अर्थेfor the sake/purpose

वदन्speaking, while saying

नnot

स्पृश्यतेis touched/tainted

अनृतैःby/with falsehoods (sins of untruth)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Droṇa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse articulates an ethical exception: when the preservation of life is at stake, speaking an untruth may be considered morally non-tainting, suggesting that dharma can prioritize protection of life over strict literal truth in extreme circumstances.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the midst of the Drona Parva’s battlefield crisis, Sañjaya conveys a plea to adopt a strategy to escape or neutralize Droṇa’s deadly threat, arguing that a necessary untruth—if aimed at saving lives—does not incur the usual sin of falsehood.