Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 40: Rāma Departs from Ayodhyā
Text 2.40.48
नाश्रौषमिति राजानमुपालब्धोऽपि वक्ष्यसि।
चिरं दुःखस्य पापिष्ठमिति रामस्तमब्रवीत्॥
nāśrauṣam iti rājānam upālabdho ’pi vakṣyasi
ciraṁ duḥkhasya pāpiṣṭham iti rāmas tam abravīt
na aśrauṣam iti = I didn’t hear you; rājānam = the king; upālabdhaḥ = if you are reproached; api = even; vakṣyasi = you should tell; ciram duḥkhasya = delaying an [unavoidable] distress; pāpiṣṭham iti = is most sinful; rāmaḥ = Rāma; tam = Sumantra; abravīt = told.
Rāma told Sumantra: “Even if you are reproached, you should tell the king, ‘I didn’t hear you.’ Delaying an [unavoidable] distress is most sinful.”
In response to Sumantra’s apprehension that transgressing the king’s instructions will lead to a great difficulty, Rāma instructs Sumantra in this verse. After Sumantra returns to Daśaratha, if the king were to criticize him, “Why didn’t you stop [driving the chariot] on my order?” Sumantra should tell him that he didn’t hear his instructions.
Why should Sumantra speak such words of untruth? Delaying [an unavoidable] distress is most sinful, that is, it leads to unendurable distress.
NOTE. When one’s life is in critical danger, speaking untruth is not degrading according to the scriptures. The Mahābhārata (1.77.16) notes:
śarmiṣṭhovāca
na narma-yuktaṁ vacanaṁ hinasti
na strīṣu rājan na vivāha-kāle
prāṇātyaye sarva-dhanāpahāre
pañcānṛtāny āhur apātakāni
“Śarmiṣṭhā said: ‘Joking words do not break a promise, nor do words spoken to a women, O king, nor at the time of a wedding, nor in a life-threatening situation or when one is about to lose all of his wealth. [Authorities] declare these five forms of falsity to be nondegrading.’”
A similar verse, spoken by Bhīṣma, appears later in the Mahā-bhārata (12.159.28).
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (8.19.43) also notes:
strīṣu narma-vivāhe ca vṛtty-arthe prāṇa-saṅkaṭe
go-brāhmaṇārthe hiṁsāyāṁ nānṛtaṁ syāj jugupsitam
“In flattering a woman to bring her under control, in joking, in a marriage ceremony, in earning one’s livelihood, when one’s life is in danger, in protecting cows and brahminical culture, or in protecting a person from an enemy’s hand, falsity is never condemned.”
Under the current circumstances, Daśaratha’s life was factually in danger. Therefore, Lord Rāma’s command was in line with the scriptures.
And Dharma can be ascertained only on the basis of the Vedic scriptures:
veda-praṇihito dharmo hy adharmas tad-viparyayaḥ
vedo nārāyaṇaḥ sākṣāt svayambhūr iti śuśruma
“That which is prescribed in the Vedas constitutes dharma, the religious principles, and the opposite of that is irreligion. The Vedas are directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, and are self-born. This we have heard from Yamarāja.” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.1.40)
But why should one follow the teachings of Vedic śāstra in the first place? Prabhupāda explains:
Śāstra is without the four principal defects that are visible in the conditioned soul: imperfect senses, the propensity for cheating, certainty of committing mistakes, and certainty of being illusioned. These four principal defects in conditioned life disqualify one from putting forth rules and regulations. Therefore, the rules and regulations as described in the śāstra—being above these defects—are accepted without alteration by all great saints, ācāryas and great souls. (Bhagavad-gītā 16.24 purport)