This verse is from the Manu Smriti (4.138):
Original translation:
satyaM brUyAt priyaM brUyAt speak the truth, speak sweetly
na brUyAt satyam apriyam | don't speak truth that is unpleasant
priyaM ca nAnRRitaM brUyAt don't speak untruth that is pleasant
eSha dharmaH sanAtanaH || this is the eternal law
the Literal translation is:
truth speak, lovingly speak
don't speak truth unloving
lovingly untruth don't speak
this is law eternal
My "enhanced" translation"
satyam bruyat, priyam bruyat speak the truth, speak sweetly
na bruyat satyam apriyam | don't speak truth in an unloving way
priyam ca nanritam bruyat don't speak untruth in a pleasant way
esha dharmah sanatanah || this is the eternal law
I'm certain that the shloka is talking about how to speak the truth not
the quality of the truth itself. That is, it's not the truth that is to
be sweet or not, truth is truth.. but it is HOW you say it that is the rule.
the key word you in the first three lines is "priyam"
this is derived from the word "prem" which means love, so I feel it is
appropriate to translate "priyam" as "lovingly", although "sweetly",
"pleasantly" are not far off.
But I have to emphasize that this shloka doesn't not say that one
should, under any circumstances, not tell the truth, but it is guiding
one to say the truth in a pleasant way. The truth must be told ("satyam
eva jayate" truth alone triumphs)
"ca" means "and" (used very differently in Sanskrit than English / not a
connective word)
"ritam" is another word for "truth"
"nan" negation "no" or "not"
"bruyat" means "speak" or "say"
priyam ca nanritam bruyat don't speak a pleasant untruth
The word "ca" echoes the repetitive logic from earlier line (meaning
"don't")
"nanritam" means "untrurth"
"priyam" is used here to describe a way of speaking, not nature of the
truth.
Therefore it should mean "lovingly"
The reason I think this is a fundamental issue is that people may feel
that you should never tell someone something they don't want to hear.
But that is not what it says. You can tell your friend that he didn't
win the election or you can rub his nose in it and call him a loser.
The fact (or truth) is the same but the way you say it is different.
If you only tell people what they want to hear, you create "bubble
mentality". People will live in a bubble they create because they only
want to hear what they want to hear. That is NOT speaking the sweet
truth as defined in the Manu Smriti.
