उपनिषद् · Jābāladarśana 1.9
॥
देवनागरी
चक्षुरादीन्द्रियैर्दृष्टं श्रुतं घ्रातं मुनीश्वर । तस्यैवोक्तिर्भवेत्सत्यं विप्र तन्नान्यथा भवेत्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
cakṣurādīndriyairdṛṣṭaṃ śrutaṃ ghrātaṃ munīśvara | tasyaivoktirbhavetsatyaṃ vipra tannānyathā bhavet
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
चक्षुः-आदि-इन्द्रियैः दृष्टंcakṣuḥ-ādi-indriyaiḥ dṛṣṭaṃseen by the eye and the other senses
श्रुतं घ्रातं मुनि-ईश्वरśrutaṃ ghrātaṃ muni-īśvaraheard, smelled, O lord of sages
तस्य एव उक्तिः भवेत् सत्यंtasya eva uktiḥ bhavet satyaṃspeech of that very thing is truth
विप्र तत् न अन्यथा भवेत्vipra tat na anyathā bhavetO learned one, and not otherwise
अनुवाद
"What is seen by the eye and the other senses, heard, smelled, O lord of sages, — speech about that very thing is truth, O learned one, and not otherwise."
संस्करण
a78fa3611ff9 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
A definition of truthfulness is given, and it deserves examination, for it is more exact than the usual one. Truth is defined as correspondence of speech to perception: to say, of what one has seen, heard, and smelled, that which one has seen, heard, and smelled. This definition is narrow, and there is a virtue in its narrowness. It does not require saying everything one knows; it requires that what is said correspond.
The difference between these two requirements deserves stating, because they are constantly confused. Silence is not a lie: a person has the right not to tell everything, and no commandment obliges him to. A lie is the assertion of what did not happen.
The confusion of these two things ruins many conscientious people, who feel obliged to lay everything out and call this truthfulness, while in fact causing harm. The Vaishnava side bounds truthfulness with a second rule, worth citing. The Mahabharata examines cases where a truthful word destroys the innocent and concludes that truth spoken in order to harm ceases to be truth; and Manu says it more briefly: satyam bruyat priyam bruyat na bruyat satyam apriyam, "speak the truth, speak what is pleasant, do not speak an unpleasant truth" (4.138).
This rule, it must be said, is more often misread than any other. It does not command lying out of politeness; it commands not using truth as a weapon — a wholly different thing, and anyone who has ever had truth flung in his face by someone bent on causing pain knows exactly what is meant.