Question:
Gurudev,
Hari Sharanam!
To what extent is it appropriate to speak a lie for the welfare of others?
Answer (Brahmabodhi):
In Sanātana Dharma, there is an ancient tradition of speaking the truth and honouring truthfulness. Truth has been placed among the highest values of life. Speaking the truth is undoubtedly dharma.
The scriptures declare that those who always speak the truth develop such power in their speech that whatever they utter—be it a blessing or a curse—comes to pass.
Let me give you two examples.
The Episode of King Parīkṣit
You may have heard about how King Parīkṣit met his death. One day he went hunting in the forest and shot an arrow at a deer, but it escaped. While searching for it, he came across the hermitage of Sage Śamīka, who was deep in meditation. Parīkṣit asked him repeatedly, “Have you seen a deer pass by?” but the sage did not respond. Angered, the king noticed a dead snake lying nearby, picked it up, and placed it around the sage’s neck as a mock garland, and then left.
When the sage’s son, Śṛṅgi Ṛṣi, arrived and saw his father thus dishonoured, he was furious. Upon inquiring from the people and learning what had happened, he uttered a curse: “On the seventh day from today, King Parīkṣit will die from the bite of a serpent.”
Sage Śamīka, the father, was a calm and gentle sage. He told his son, “Withdraw your curse; this act of yours will bring great calamity.” But Śṛṅgi replied, “I have never spoken falsehood in my life; therefore, my spoken word cannot become untrue, nor do I have the means to undo it.” Such is the majesty of truth.
And indeed, despite every effort to avert it, King Parīkṣit died on the seventh day by the bite of the serpent Takṣaka.
The Example of Ved Vyāsa and Gāndhārī
Another illustration is from the life of Bhagavān Ved Vyāsa. Once he had blessed Queen Gāndhārī saying, “You shall have one hundred sons.” She conceived, but eventually miscarried, and only a lump of flesh emerged. Distressed, she approached Vyāsa and lamented, “You had blessed me with a hundred sons, yet my pregnancy has ended in failure!”
Vyāsa reassured her, saying, “Devi, I have never spoken falsehood—not even in jest. Therefore, my word cannot become untrue.” Such is the glory of truth. He then instructed her in a method through which, from that mass of flesh, one hundred sons were eventually born.
I narrated these two examples so that one may understand that speaking the truth is a great dharma, and it holds immense power.
Yet, now I must tell you something further.
Speaking the truth is indeed a general or ordinary form of dharma. But dharma is of two kinds — Sāmānya Dharma (general duty) and Āpaddharma (duty in times of crisis). In exceptional circumstances, if the intention is pure and noble, even deviating from the usual rule of truth may itself be dharma.
Thus, the Mahābhārata declares:
“Sa eva dharmaḥ sa adharmaḥ deśa-kāle pratiṣṭhitaḥ”
— According to time and circumstance, that which is considered dharma may become adharma, and that which seems adharma may become dharma.
Therefore, in special situations—for the protection of someone’s life or for their highest welfare—even speaking untruth can be dharma.
However, this principle must not become an excuse for habitual or frequent lying.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s Harmony of Truth and Righteous Policy
Just before the Mahābhārata war commenced, Arjuna fell into moral confusion. He said to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, “O Mādhava! How can I find happiness by killing my teachers, elders, and kin? Even if this is a righteous war, is such violence justifiable?”
Śrī Kṛṣṇa explained:
- Truth is a noble virtue,
- Non-violence is also a revered principle,
- But —
- If adharma is triumphing,
- If the innocent are being destroyed,
- If patience and compassion are mistaken for weakness,
then remaining silent or inactive becomes the greatest adharma.
In this very context, Krishna instructed Arjuna:
“Sukha-duḥkhe same kṛtvā
Lābhālābhau jayājayau।
Tato yuddhāya yujyasva
Naivaṁ pāpam avāpsyasi॥” (Gītā 2.38)
“Take joy and sorrow, gain and loss, victory and defeat alike — and then engage in your righteous duty. In doing so, no sin will touch you.”
Here, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is not glorifying violence — He is teaching that:
“Truth and non-violence are virtues only so long as they do not aid adharma.
And when firm action is required to restrain injustice — that very firmness becomes the highest dharma.”
Conclusion
- Truth and non-violence are indeed great virtues.
- Yet, their wise application according to circumstance is the true mark of dharma.
- If speaking the truth causes unjust harm, silence is better than speech.
- If speaking an untruth saves life or prevents grave injustice, that untruth becomes dharma.
- And if standing against evil requires firmness, even that becomes righteous warfare — dharma-yuddha.
Swami Brahm Bodhi 
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