akrodhena jayet krodham asādhuṁ sādhunā jayet |
jayet kadaryam dānena jayet satyena cānṛtam ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.39.58)
“Conquer anger [i.e., the anger of others] with the absence of anger. Conquer dishonesty with honesty. Conquer miserliness with charity. Conquer falsity with truthfulness.”
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.”
prāṇātyaye vivāhe ca vaktavyam anṛtaṁ bhavet |
anṛtaṁ ca bhavet satyaṁ satyaṁ caivānṛtaṁ bhavet ||
yad bhūta-hitam atyantaṁ tat satyam iti dhāraṇā |
viparyaya-kṛto’dharmaḥ paśya dharmasya sūkṣmatām ||
(Mahābhārata: 3.200.3–4)
“When one’s life is at stake and in regard to marriage, an untruth can be spoken. [In these cases,] Untruth becomes truth, and truth becomes untruth. That [action or speech] which is of the greater benefit to living beings is truth. This is the conclusion. Doing the opposite is adharma. See the subtlety of dharma.”
na sā sabhā yatra na santi vṛddhā
na te vṛddhā ye na vadanti dharmam |
nāsau dharmo yatra na satyam asti
na tat satyaṁ yac chalenābhyupetam ||
(Mahābhārata: Udyoga-parva)
“That wherein there are no wise persons is not an assembly [of any substance]. Those who do not speak of dharma are not wise persons. That wherein there is no truth is not dharma. And that which has been infiltrated by deceit is not truth.”
satye pratiṣṭhitaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ satyam atra pratiṣṭhitam |
satyāt satyaṁ ca govindas tasmāt satyo hi nāmataḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.70.12; cited in Bhagavat Sandarbha: 58; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 82)
“Kṛṣṇa is fixed in truth, and truth is fixed in him. Govinda is the truth beyond truth [alt., beyond Satyaloka], and thus by name he is [known as] Satya (Truth).”
likhita granthera yadi kari anuvāda |
tabe se granthera artha pāiye āsvāda ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.17.311)
“If I recapitulate [alt., translate] what is written in a text, then I get a taste of the meaning of that text.”
ādeyasya pradeyasya kartavyasya ca karmaṇaḥ |
kṣipram akriyamāṇasya kālaḥ pibati tad-rasam ||
(Hitopadeśa: Sandhi, 101)
“That which is to be accepted, that which is to be given, and actions that are to be performed but which are not attended to quickly—time drinks away their essence.”
apsu plavante pāṣāṇā mānuṣā ghnanti rākṣasān |
kapayaḥ karma kurvanti kālasya kuṭilā gatiḥ ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
[Rāvaṇa:] “[In time] Stones float on water, men destroy fiends (rākṣasas), and monkeys perform duties. The course of time is crooked [i.e., no one can predict what will happen].”
