Shloka 33

कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira

Devanagari script

विवाहकाले रतिसम्प्रयोगे प्राणात्यये सर्वधनापहारे । विप्रस्य चार्थे हानृतं वदेत पज्चानृतान्याहुरपातकानि,विवाहकालमें, स्त्रीप्रसंगके समय, किसीके प्राणोंपर संकट आनेपर, सर्वस्वका अपहरण होते समय तथा ब्राह्मणकी भलाईके लिये आवश्यकता हो तो असत्य बोल दे; इन पाँच अवसरोंपर झूठ बोलनेसे पाप नहीं होता

Transliteration

vivāhakāle ratisamprayoge prāṇātyaye sarvadhanāpahāre | viprasya cārthe hānṛtaṃ vadet pañcānṛtāny āhur apātakāni ||

Translation

พระศรีกฤษณะตรัสว่า “ในกาลวิวาห์ ในคราวร่วมรติ เมื่อชีวิตตกอยู่ในอันตราย เมื่อทรัพย์สินทั้งสิ้นกำลังถูกปล้นชิง และเมื่อจำเป็นเพื่อประโยชน์เกื้อกูลของพราหมณ์—ย่อมกล่าวถ้อยคำอันไม่จริงได้. อนฤตที่กล่าวในห้าโอกาสนี้ ท่านประกาศว่าไม่เป็นบาป.”

Word by Word

{'vivāha-kāla''time of marriage

wedding occasion', 'rati-samprayoga''sexual union

intimate intercourse', 'prāṇa-atyaya''peril to life

threat of death', 'sarva-dhana-apahāra''seizure/abduction of all wealth

total robbery', 'viprasya arthe''for the sake/benefit of a brāhmaṇa', 'hānṛtam': 'untruth

false statement (lit. ‘not-truth’)', 'vadet''one should say/speak', 'pañca': 'five', 'anṛtāni': 'untruths

falsehoods', 'āhuḥ''they say

they declare', 'apātakāni''not a sin/offense

Speaker

श्रीकृष्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śrī Kṛṣṇa

vipra (brāhmaṇa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that truthfulness is a central norm, yet dharma recognizes rare emergency or socially protected contexts where speaking an untruth may be ethically permitted and treated as non-sinful—especially to prevent grave harm (loss of life or total ruin) or to secure a brāhmaṇa’s welfare.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Karṇa Parva, amid the moral strain of the Kurukṣetra war, Śrī Kṛṣṇa articulates a principle of situational ethics (āpaddharma), clarifying that rigid adherence to literal truth can be overridden in specific circumstances to protect higher values such as life, social order, and urgent welfare.