Shloka 996

Devanagari script

तेन सत्येन तावद्य श्रियेतां श्वशुरौ मम । “मैंने पहले कभी इच्छानुसार किये जानेवाले क्रीडा-विनोदमें भी झूठी बात कही हो, मुझे इसका स्मरण नहीं है। उस सत्यके प्रभावसे इस समय मेरे सास-ससुर जीवित रहें

Transliteration

tena satyena tāvadya śriyētāṃ śvaśurau mama |

Translation

ആ സത്യത്തിന്റെ പ്രഭാവത്താൽ ഇന്നുതന്നെ എന്റെ ശ്വശുരനും ശ്വശ്രൂയും ജീവിക്കട്ടെ. ഞാൻ മുമ്പെപ്പോഴെങ്കിലും—കളി-വിനോദത്തിലുപോലും—എന്റെ ഇഷ്ടപ്രകാരം ചെയ്ത കാര്യങ്ങളിൽ കള്ളം പറഞ്ഞതായി എനിക്ക് ഓർമ്മയില്ല.

Word by Word

• {'tena': 'by that (instrumental singular)', 'satyena': 'by truth

• by the force of truthfulness (instrumental singular of satya)', 'tāvat': 'just so far

• immediately (here: ‘this very moment/day’)', 'adya': 'today

• this day', 'śriyētām': 'let them prosper / be restored / be made whole (optative/benedictive dual, passive sense)', 'śvaśurau': 'father-in-law and mother-in-law (dual of śvaśura, used collectively for both in-laws)', 'mama': 'my'}

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• father-in-law
• mother-in-law

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Truthfulness (satya) is presented as a spiritual power: a life of unwavering honesty can become the basis for a ‘truth-act’ (satyakriyā), through which one invokes moral force to bring about welfare, healing, or even restoration.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya utters a benedictive statement grounded in truth, invoking the merit and power of his truthfulness so that his in-laws may be revived or restored immediately.