Shloka : 26
स्वपरद्रोहजननं सत्यं भाष्यं न कर्हिचित् ।
कृतघ्नसङ्गस्त्यक्तव्यो लुञ्चा ग्राह्यान कस्यचित् ॥ 26 ॥
અને જે સત્ય વચન બોલવે કરીને પોતાનો દ્રોહ થાય તથા પારકો દ્રોહ થાય એવું જે સત્ય વચન, તે ક્યારેય ન બોલવું. અને જે કૃતઘ્ની હોય તેના સંગનો ત્યાગ કરવો અને વ્યવહારકાર્યને વિષે કોઈની લાંચ ન લેવી. ॥ 26 ॥
And a truth, which offends one’s own self and offends others also, should never be uttered. And one should avoid the company of ungrateful people and one should not accept bribe for any wordly duty. || 26 ||
Commentary
A 'truth', which is offending to oneself as well as to others i.e. point blank statements, should not be spoken. A truth which hurts oneself or the others should not be spoken. Otherwise, one should always speak truth and never tell lies. It is permissible to tell a lie to save one’s own life or to save other’s life, for the sake of Guru, in front of women, jokingly, while fixing marriages, to protect one’s profession and for the welfare of cows and Brahmins. Apart from such instances, always speak truth. Truth is preferable, but it is very difficult to understand the proper nature of truth. A true statement is the statement - which has been witnessed by oneself; heard from the scriptures; one’s own inferrence based on the statements of scriptures; properly experienced by oneself; which does not hurt the others and which is for the betterment of all the living beings. A person, who desires peace, should meaningfully listen to the statements of others, observe their reactions and judge one’s decision through 'Satwik' nature and thereafter should utter the truth which is devoid of exception, violence, complaint, cunningness, harshness, cruelty and which is convincing and pleasant to everyone concerned. Moreover, Shri Swaminarayan Bhagwan has also mentioned that it is appropriate to speak a pleasant truth but not an unpleasant truth or a pleasant untruth.
And one should avoid the company of an ungrateful person. A person, who returns the favours of other people by causing damage to them as well as a person who uses harsh words towards a person who has done him a favour, is also called an ungrateful person. Such an ungrateful person accumulates great sins. The person who keeps the company of such ungrateful person also accumulates similar sins. Therefore, company of such people should be avoided.
And one should not accept bribe from any person. The material gained from a person who is eager to accomplish his motive by the means like threatening someone while he is alone etc. is called bribe. The reason for not accepting the bribe is that the material gained through unjust means lasts only for ten years. By the end of tenth year, the wealth gained through bribe, alongwith that gained through fair means, and that inherited from the ancestors, all of them are destroyed.