Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.13.37

sañjaya uvāca

nāhaḿ veda vyavasitaḿ

pitror vaḥ kula-nandana

gāndhāryā vā mahā-bāho

muṣito 'smi mahātmabhiḥ

SYNONYMS

sañjayaḥ uvāca — Sañjaya said; na — not; aham — I; veda — know; vyavasitam — determination; pitroḥ — of your uncles; vaḥ — your; kula-nandana — O descendant of the Kuru dynasty; gāndhāryāḥ — of Gāndhārī; vā — or; mahā-bāho — O great King; muṣitaḥ — cheated; asmi — I have been; mahā-ātmabhiḥ — by those great souls.

TRANSLATION

Sañjaya said: My dear descendant of the Kuru dynasty, I have no information of the determination of your two uncles and Gāndhārī. O King, I have been cheated by those great souls.

PURPORT

That great souls cheat others may be astonishing to know, but it is a fact that great souls cheat others for a great cause. It is said that Lord Kṛṣṇa also advised Yudhiṣṭhira to tell a lie before Droṇācārya, and it was also for a great cause. The Lord wanted it, and therefore it was a great cause. Satisfaction of the Lord is the criterion of one who is bona fide, and the highest perfection of life is to satisfy the Lord by one's occupational duty. That is the verdict of Gītā and Bhāgavatam.* Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Vidura, followed by Gāndhārī, did not disclose their determination to Sañjaya, although he was constantly with Dhṛtarāṣṭra as his personal assistant. Sañjaya never thought that Dhṛtarāṣṭra could perform any act without consulting him. But Dhṛtarāṣṭra's going away from home was so confidential that it could not be disclosed even to Sañjaya. Sanātana Gosvāmī also cheated the keeper of the prison house while going away to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and similarly Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī also cheated his priest and left home for good to satisfy the Lord. To satisfy the Lord, anything is good, for it is in relation with the Absolute Truth. We also had the same opportunity to cheat the family members and leave home to engage in the service of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Such cheating was necessary for a great cause, and there is no loss for any party in such transcendental fraud.