Shloka 62
कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira
जो मनुष्य किसी कार्यके लिये प्रतिज्ञा करके उसका प्रकारान्तरसे उपपादन करता है, वह दम्भी होनेके कारण उसका फल नहीं पाता, ऐसा मनीषी पुरुषोंका कथन है ।। प्राणात्यये विवाहे वा सर्वज्ञातिवधात्यये । नर्मण्यभिप्रवृत्ते वा न च प्रोक्ते मृषा भवेत्
yo manuṣyaḥ kasyacit kāryasya kṛte pratijñāṃ kṛtvā tasya prakārāntareṇa upapādanaṃ karoti, sa dambhī bhūtvā tasya phalaṃ na prāpnoti—iti manīṣi-puruṣāṇāṃ vacanam || prāṇātyaye vivāhe vā sarva-jñāti-vadhātyaye | narmaṇy abhipravṛtte vā na ca prokte mṛṣā bhavet ||
Sinabi ni Vāyu: “Ang taong nanunumpa para sa isang gawain ngunit saka sinusubukang ‘tuparin’ iyon sa ibang pakana ay hindi nakakamit ang bunga, sapagkat ang gayong asal ay pawang pagpapakitang-tao; ganyan ang sabi ng mga pantas. Gayunman, ang di-katotohanan ay hindi nagiging kapintasan kapag nakataya ang buhay, o sa kasalan, o kapag nalalapit ang paglipol sa buong angkan, o sa mapaglarong biro—kung hindi naman ito tunay na binibigkas.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
A vow must be fulfilled in its true spirit; fulfilling it through a different workaround is hypocrisy and yields no merit. Yet dharma recognizes rare edge-cases where untruth is not culpable—especially to save life, protect kin from catastrophe, or in harmless jest—so long as it is not actually spoken as a deceitful assertion.
In Karṇa Parva, amid the moral pressure of war, Vāyu speaks as a moral authority, warning against performative righteousness (dambha) in keeping promises, while also stating traditional dharma-exceptions where strict truth-telling may be relaxed in extreme or socially sensitive situations.