Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 40
न नर्मयुक्तं वचनं हिनस्ति न स्त्रीषु जातिर्न विवाहकाले । प्राणात्यये सर्वधनापहारे पंचानृतान्याहुरपातकानि
na narmayuktaṃ vacanaṃ hinasti na strīṣu jātirna vivāhakāle | prāṇātyaye sarvadhanāpahāre paṃcānṛtānyāhurapātakāni
مزاح میں کہا ہوا کلام نقصان نہیں دیتا؛ نہ عورتوں کے معاملے میں، نہ نکاح کے وقت (کہا ہوا خلافِ واقعہ)۔ جان کے خطرے میں اور جب سارا مال لٹ جائے—یہ پانچ ‘انرت’ بے گناہی کے شمار کیے گئے ہیں۔
Dhenavaḥ (the cows), citing a dharma maxim on permissible untruths
Scene: A didactic tableau: an elder/teacher figure recites dharma-rules to an attentive group; behind, symbolic vignettes show the five contexts—jest, women’s privacy, marriage negotiations, life peril, and total loss of wealth—each framed as a moral exception.
FAQs
Truth is a core virtue, yet dharma recognizes compassionate exceptions in extreme circumstances to prevent greater harm.
No tīrtha is named here; the verse provides a dharma principle embedded within the Mahātmya narrative framework.
None; the verse is a normative ethical rule (dharma-nīti) rather than a ritual injunction.