Shloka 33

कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira

Devanagari script

विवाहकाले रतिसम्प्रयोगे प्राणात्यये सर्वधनापहारे । विप्रस्य चार्थे हानृतं वदेत पज्चानृतान्याहुरपातकानि

Transliteration

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

Translation

室利·奎师那说道：“在婚礼之时、在男女交合之事上、在性命危急之际、在全部财物正被掠夺之时，以及为婆罗门之福祉而确有必要之时——可以说出不实之言。在这五种场合所说的不实之言，被宣称为无罪。”

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)

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.