Shloka 843
Sabhā Parva, Adhyāya 68 — Pāṇḍavānāṃ Vanavāsa-prasthānaḥ; Duḥśāsana-nindā; Pāṇḍava-pratijñāḥ
तस्मात् सत्यं ब्रुवन् साक्षी धर्मार्थाभ्यां न हीयते । झूठ बोलनेवाला मनुष्य उन सभी दु:खोंका भागी होता है। समक्ष दर्शन
tasmāt satyaṃ bruvan sākṣī dharmārthābhyāṃ na hīyate |
तस्मात् सत्यं ब्रुवन् साक्षी धर्मार्थाभ्यां न हीयते। यः पुनरनृतं ब्रूते स सर्वेषां तेषां दुःखानां भागी भवति। प्रत्यक्षदर्शनश्रवणधारणैः साक्षीति संज्ञा; तस्मात् सत्यवादी साक्षी कदाचन धर्मार्थाभ्यां न वञ्च्यते।
कश्यप उवाच
Educational Q&A
A witness must speak truthfully: truthful testimony safeguards one’s dharma and artha, while false testimony makes one complicit in the resulting suffering and injustice.
Kaśyapa is instructing on the moral duty of a ‘sākṣī’ (witness), defining a witness as one who has directly seen, heard, and retained the facts, and emphasizing that such a person must speak the truth.