vivāha-kāle rati-saṁprayoge prāṇātyaye sarva-dhanāpahāre |
viprasya cārthe hy anṛtaṁ vadeta pañcānṛtāny āhur apātakāni ||
(Mahābhārata: 8.49.29)
“Speaking an untruth at the time of marriage, amid romantic union, when one’s life is at stake, when all of one’s wealth may be lost, and for the sake of a brāhmaṇa—these five untruths are said to be sinless.”
anṛtaṁ jīvitasyārthe vadan na spṛśyate’nṛtaiḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 7.164.99)
“One is not touched by untruth by speaking an untruth for the sake of [saving someone’s] life.”
na tathya-vacanaṁ satyaṁ nātathya-vacanaṁ mṛṣā |
yad-bhūta-hitam atyantaṁ tat-satyam itaran mṛṣā ||
(Subhāṣita-sudha-nidhi)
“Speaking in accord with facts is not truthfulness. Speaking not in accord with facts is not falsity. That which is supremely beneficial for living beings is truth, and that which is otherwise is falsity.”
satyasya vacanaṁ śreyaḥ satyād api hitaṁ vadet |
yad bhūta-hitam atyantam etat satyaṁ mataṁ mama ||
(Mahābhārata: Śānti-parva, 316.13)
[Sanāt Kumāra:] “Speaking the truth is best. Speaking that which is beneficial is even better than [speaking] truth. That which is supremely beneficial to living beings is truth. This is my opinion.”
satyaṁ brūyāt priyaṁ brūyān na brūyāt satyam apriyaṁ |
priyaṁ ca nānṛtaṁ brūyād eṣa dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
(Manu Smṛti: 4.138)
“Speak the truth, and speak that which is pleasant. Do not speak an unpleasant truth, and do not speak a pleasant untruth. This is the age-old dharma.”
satyaṁ vada dharmaṁ cara |
(Taittirīya Upaniṣad 1.11)
“Speak the truth and adhere to dharma.”
ṛtaṁ ca sūnṛtā vāṇī kavibhiḥ parikīrtitā |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.19.38)
“Ṛtam is praised by the kavis as sūnṛtā speech.”
sambandha-lābhopakṛtir abhedo guṇa-kīrtanam |
sāma pañca-vidho bhedo dṛṣṭādṛṣṭa-mayaṁ vacaḥ ||
(Unknown source; cited in the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā and Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī ṭīkās to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.1.36 and the Sārārtha-darśanī-ṭīkā to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.1.37)
“Sāma (pacification) is of five types: speech related to relationships, gain, assistance, unity [i.e., non-separateness], and praise of qualities. Bheda (disconcertion) is [of two types:] speech related to the seen and the unseen [i.e., speaking so as to create concerns regarding the present and the future (as per the Sārārtha-darśanī-ṭīkā: dṛṣṭādṛṣṭa-bhaya-lakṣaṇo dvividho bhedaḥ].”
tad eva ramyaṁ ruciraṁ navaṁ navaṁ
tad eva śaśvan manaso mahotsavam |
tad eva śokārṇava-śoṣaṇaṁ nṛṇāṁ
yad uttamaḥśloka-yaśo’nugīyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.12.50; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 269)
“Only that [speech] through which the glory of he of highest praise is continuously sung is pleasing, relishable, and ever-new, only that is a grand, eternal festival for the heart, and only that dries up the ocean of humanity’s lamentation.”
