Prahlada Judges Between His Son and Sudhanva
The demon-king Prahlada’s son and a sage’s son wager their lives over who is superior, demanding Prahlada judge. Threatened with a brahmin’s curse if he lies or stays silent, Prahlada seeks counsel on the sin of false testimony before delivering his painful, truthful verdict.
Vidura told the story. Prahlada, king of the daityas (demons), had a son named Virochana. Virochana quarreled with Sudhanva, the son of the sage Angirasa, over a maiden. Each wagered his life, each claimed he was superior. They took their dispute to Prahlada. “Who among us is superior? Answer the question and do not lie.”
Prahlada was scared. He looked at Sudhanva. The sage’s son, his anger as flaming as a brahmana’s curse, told him, “O Prahlada! If you utter a lie or if you do not answer at all, the wielder of the vajra will use the vajra to splinter your head into a hundred parts.”
Prahlada trembled like a leaf. He went to the sage Kashyapa for counsel. “O illustrious one! You are learned in the ways of dharma… In the hereafter, what worlds are attained by one who does not answer a question or answers it falsely?”
Kashyapa’s answer was severe. A thousand of Varuna’s nooses await one who withholds the truth out of desire, anger, or fear; it takes a year for one noose to loosen. “Therefore, one who knows the truth should speak the truth openly.” He explained the distribution of sin in an assembly that fails to condemn wrongdoing. He listed the profound miseries — of a robbed man, a bereaved father, a debtor — and declared, “He who speaks falsely obtains all these miseries.”
Armed with this knowledge, Prahlada returned and gave his judgment to his son. “Sudhanva is superior to you, just as Angirasa is superior to me. Sudhanva’s mother is superior to your mother. O Virochana! Sudhanva is the lord of your life.”
Sudhanva was pleased. “Since you have not deviated from dharma out of affection towards your son, I set your son free and he will live for a hundred years.” Truth had saved Virochana’s life.