अथ निष्क्रम्य राजासौ तस्मिन् काले यदृच्छया ॥
अशोकवनिकाभ्याशे शर्मिष्ठां प्राप्य विष्ठितः ॥
तम् एकं रहिते दृष्ट्वा शर्मिष्ठा चारुहासिनी ॥
प्रत्युद्गम्याञ्जलिं कृत्वा राजानं वाक्यम् अब्रवीत् ॥
सोमस्येन्द्रस्य विष्णोर् वा यमस्य वरुणस्य वा ॥
तव वा नाहुष कुले कः स्त्रियं स्प्रष्टुम् अर्हति ॥
रूपाभिजनशीलैर् हि त्वं राजन् वेत्थ मां सदा ॥
सा त्वां याचे प्रसाद्याहम् ऋतुं देहि नराधिप ॥
ययातिर् उवाच
वेद्मि त्वां शीलसंपन्नां दैत्यकन्याम् अनिन्दिताम् ॥
रूपे च ते न पश्यामि सूच्यग्रम् अपि निन्दितम् ॥
अब्रवीद् उशना काव्यो देवयानीं यदावहम् ॥
नेयम् आह्वयितव्या ते शयने वार्षपर्वणी ॥
शर्मिष्ठोवाच
न नर्मयुक्तं वचनं हिनस्ति ।
न स्त्रीषु राजन् न विवाहकाले ॥
प्राणात्यये सर्वधनापहारे ।
पञ्चानृतान्य् आहुर् अपातकानि ॥
पृष्टं तु साक्ष्ये प्रवदन्तम् अन्यथा ।
वदन्ति मिथ्योपहितं नरेन्द्र ॥
एकार्थतायां तु समाहितायां ।
मिथ्या वदन्तम् अनृतं हिनस्ति ॥
ययातिर् उवाच
राजा प्रमाणं भूतानां स नश्येत मृषा वदन् ॥
अर्थकृच्छ्रम् अपि प्राप्य न मिथ्या कर्तुम् उत्सहे ॥
शर्मिष्ठोवाच
समाव् एतौ मतौ राजन् पतिः सख्याश् च यः पतिः ॥
समं विवाहम् इत्य् आहुः सख्या मे ऽसि पतिर् वृतः ॥
atha niṣkramya rājāsau tasmin kāle yadṛcchayā ||
aśokavanikābhyāśe śarmiṣṭhāṃ prāpya viṣṭhitaḥ ||
tam ekaṃ rahite dṛṣṭvā śarmiṣṭhā cāruhāsinī ||
pratyudgamyāñjaliṃ kṛtvā rājānaṃ vākyam abravīt ||
somasyendrasya viṣṇor vā yamasya varuṇasya vā ||
tava vā nāhuṣa kule kaḥ striyaṃ spraṣṭum arhati ||
rūpābhijanaśīlair hi tvaṃ rājan vettha māṃ sadā ||
sā tvāṃ yāce prasādyāham ṛtuṃ dehi narādhipa ||
yayātir uvāca
vedmi tvāṃ śīlasaṃpannāṃ daityakanyām aninditām ||
rūpe ca te na paśyāmi sūcyagram api ninditam ||
abravīd uśanā kāvyo devayānīṃ yadāvaham ||
neyam āhvayitavyā te śayane vārṣaparvaṇī ||
śarmiṣṭhovāca
na narmayuktaṃ vacanaṃ hinasti |
na strīṣu rājan na vivāhakāle ||
prāṇātyaye sarvadhanāpahāre |
pañcānṛtāny āhur apātakāni ||
pṛṣṭaṃ tu sākṣye pravadantam anyathā |
vadanti mithyopahitaṃ narendra ||
ekārthatāyāṃ tu samāhitāyāṃ |
mithyā vadantam anṛtaṃ hinasti ||
yayātir uvāca
rājā pramāṇaṃ bhūtānāṃ sa naśyeta mṛṣā vadan ||
arthakṛcchram api prāpya na mithyā kartum utsahe ||
śarmiṣṭhovāca
samāv etau matau rājan patiḥ sakhyāś ca yaḥ patiḥ ||
samaṃ vivāham ity āhuḥ sakhyā me 'si patir vṛtaḥ ||
'And then at that time, by chance, that king, going out and coming to the ashoka grove, meeting Sharmishtha, stopped. Sweetly smiling Sharmishtha, seeing him alone in solitude, rising to meet him and joining her palms, spoke a word to the king: "O son of Nahusha, in the lineage of Soma, Indra, Vishnu, Yama, Varuna, or your own — who could refuse protection to a woman who asks for it? O king, you have always known me endowed with beauty, noble birth, and character; having propitiated you, I ask: O king, grant the fruit to my season." Yayati said: "I know you to be a blameless, well-conducted daughter of the daityas; in your beauty I see not so much as the point of a needle worthy of censure. But when I took Devayani as my wife, Ushanas-Kavya (Shukra) said: 'This daughter of Vrishaparvan must never be summoned to your bed.'" Sharmishtha said: "O king, a word spoken in jest does no harm — is no sin; likewise falsehood for the sake of women, at a wedding, when life is in danger, and when all one's property is being seized — these five kinds of untruth are called sinless. O lord of men, only one who speaks falsely when questioned as a witness is called guilty of falsehood; but where a single, the same matter has been rightly settled, the untruth destroys the one who speaks it falsely." Yayati said: "The king is the measure for all beings; one who speaks falsehood will himself perish; even falling into dire distress, I would not dare to lie."'
6eaa21f67a6c · प्रकाशित 12 जुल॰ 2026, 3:49:50 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Here a subtle dispute over dharma unfolds — over the limits of truth and falsehood. Sharmishtha's teaching on 'the five untruths that are no sin' is telling: a lie told in jest, for the sake of a woman (in love), at a wedding, when life is threatened, when all one's property is being seized. Here is an ancient and subtle argument: truthfulness (satya) is the highest dharma, yet not unconditional; there are cases where literal truth, if it brings ruin upon the innocent or a breach of the higher good, yields to compassion. This is not a justification of lying, but a recognition that dharma is complex, and that sometimes the higher good — saving a life, protecting a woman — outweighs the letter. Yet Yayati's nobility is equally telling: 'the king is the measure of all beings; one who speaks falsehood will himself perish; even in distress I would not dare to lie.' Here is the highest measure of truthfulness: one who serves as an example for others — a king, a teacher, a devotee — must be flawlessly truthful, for his falsehood corrupts many. Thus the scripture sets two good principles against each other — the flexibility of dharma (Sharmishtha) and unconditional truthfulness (Yayati); and, as what follows will show, Yayati will find a way that breaches, in his own reckoning, neither truth nor the letter of the prohibition.