Shloka 38
अव्यक्तकालमान-निर्णयः
Measures of Time from the Unmanifest; Creation, Elements, and the Primacy of Mind
अव्याह्तं व्याहृताच्छेय आहु: सत्य॑ं वदेद् व्याहृतं तद् द्वितीयम् । धर्म वदेद् व्याहृतं तत् तृतीयं प्रियं वदेद् व्याह्ृतं तच्चतुर्थम्
avyāhṛtaṃ vyāhṛtāc chreya āhuḥ; satyaṃ vaded vyāhṛtaṃ tad dvitīyam | dharmaṃ vaded vyāhṛtaṃ tat tṛtīyaṃ; priyaṃ vaded vyāhṛtaṃ tac caturtham ||
天鹅（Haṃsa）说道：“人们说，不言胜于多言。若必须开口，则说真实为第二德；依于法（dharma）而说为第三德；说悦人之语为第四德。”由此，此教法为言语之修持立次第：先贵克制，而后使言语趋于真实、合乎法度，并且和悦可亲。
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a graded discipline of speech: the highest safeguard is silence (not speaking unnecessarily). If one must speak, one should prioritize truth, then dharma-aligned speech, and also ensure speech is pleasing—so that words are restrained, truthful, righteous, and gentle rather than harmful or frivolous.
In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, the Haṃsa delivers moral instruction. Here the speaker lays down a normative hierarchy for how a wise person should handle speech, presenting it as a traditional maxim (“they declare”).