Shloka 8

Adhyāya 223: Nāradasya Guṇa-kathana

Catalogue of Nārada’s Virtues

Devanagari script

ब्रह्मोवाच नैतत्‌ ते साधु मघवन्‌ यदेनमनुपृच्छसि । पृष्टस्तु नानृतं ब्रूयात्‌ तस्माद्‌ वक्ष्यामि ते बलिम्‌

Transliteration

brahmovāca naitat te sādhu maghavan yadenam anupṛcchasi | pṛṣṭas tu nānṛtaṃ brūyāt tasmād vakṣyāmi te balim ||

Translation

梵天说道：“摩伽梵啊，你这样追问我关于他的事，并不相宜。然而既被问及，便不当说妄语；因此我将告诉你关于婆利之事。”

Word by Word

• {'brahmovāca': 'Brahmā said', 'naitat': 'this is not', 'te': 'for you / to you', 'sādhu': 'proper, right, commendable', 'maghavan': 'O Maghavan (epithet of Indra, ‘the bountiful’)', 'yad': 'that / because', 'enam': 'him (accusative pronoun)', 'anupṛcchasi': 'you question, you inquire after', 'pṛṣṭaḥ': 'when asked

• one who has been questioned', 'tu': 'but, however', 'na': 'not', 'anṛtam': 'falsehood, untruth', 'brūyāt': 'should say/speak (optative)', 'tasmāt': 'therefore, for that reason', 'vakṣyāmi': 'I shall tell', 'balim': 'Bali (proper name

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā
• Indra (Maghavan)
• Bali

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even if a question is improper or unwelcome, the dharma of speech emphasizes that one who is asked should not respond with falsehood; truthfulness is upheld as an ethical obligation in dialogue.

What is happening in the narrative?

Indra (addressed as Maghavan) questions Brahmā about Bali. Brahmā cautions that such inquiry is not fitting, yet, bound by the principle that one should not lie when questioned, he agrees to disclose information about Bali.