na hy asatyāt paro’dharma iti hovāca bhūr iyam |
sarvaṁ soḍhum alaṁ manye ṛte’līka-paraṁ naram ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.20.4)
[Bali Mahārāja to Śukrācārya:] “The earth said, ‘There is no greater adharma than untruthfulness.‘ I think I can verily tolerate everything except an untruthful person.”
kṣīṇa-rikthaś cyutaḥ sthānāt kṣipto baddhaś ca śatrubhiḥ |
jñātibhiś ca parityakto yātanām anuyāpitaḥ ||
guruṇā bhartsitaḥ śapto jahau satyaṁ na suvrataḥ |
chalair ukto mayā dharmo nāyaṁ tyajati satya-vāk ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.22.29‒30)
[Vāmanadeva to Brahmā about Bali Mahārāja:] “Although he was bereft of his property, deprived of his position, thrown down and bound by his enemies, deserted by his kinsmen, subjected repeatedly to torment, and chastized and cursed by his guru, he did not give up his truthfulness, as he was firmly avowed. Even when I spoke [to him] about dharma deceptively, he did not give up speaking the truth.”
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.”
satyaṁ bhūta-hitaṁ proktaṁ na yathārthābhibhāṣaṇam |
(Kahāvata-ratnākara)
“Truth is that which is spoken for the benefit of living beings and not [simply] speech that is factual [lit., ‘as is the object’].”
na satyaṁ kevalaṁ satyam anṛtaṁ na tathānṛtam |
hitaṁ yat sarva-lokasya tat satyaṁ śeṣam anyathā ||
(Bhārata Mañjarī)
“Truth is not just truth, and falsity is not just falsity. That which is beneficial to all beings is truth, and the remainder [i.e., all else] is otherwise [i.e., 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.”
na puṇyaṁ satya-mātrena satyān nāśo’sti kevalāt |
(Bṛhat-kathā-mañjarī)
“There is no virtue in truth alone; from bare truth ruin ensues.”
satyam eva jayate nānṛtaṁ
satyena panthā vitato devayānaḥ |
yenākramanty ṛṣayo hy āpta-kāmā
yatra tat satyasya paramaṁ nidhānam ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 3.1.6)
“Truth alone triumphs, and not falsity [i.e., those who adhere to truth triumph and not those who engage in falsity]. Through truth is spread out the path of devas by which the ṛṣis of fulfilled desire ascend to that [domain] where there exists the supreme treasure of truth [i.e., Brahman].”
āhuḥ satyaṁ hi paramaṁ dharmaṁ dharma-vido janāḥ |
(Rāmāyaṇa: 2.14.3)
[Kaikeyi to Daśaratha:] “Those who know dharma say that truthfulness is the ultimate dharma.”
