satyameva jayate nanrutam
satyena pantha vitato deva-yanah
yenakramanty rushayo hy apta-kama
yatra tat satyasya paramam nidhanam.
(Mundaka
Upanishad III.1.6)
Truth alone triumphs, not untruth. The path of truth leads to
Godliness. Sages having their desires fulfilled, ascend to the realm of the
supreme treasure of truth.
From our
childhood we have been taught by our parents and elders to be always truthful.
We never like untruth. We always want to know the truth behind everything. In
Sanskrit truth is commonly expressed as satya.
It has many meanings. The simple meaning of satya
is to speak the truth. But there is another meaning. Satya means the ultimate reality. Satya also is a name for
God, symbolizing eternity. This is the beauty of Sanskrit language to have
multiple meanings for a single word. Every word in the Holy Scripture has more
than one meaning, a simple apparent meaning and a deeper, inner meaning.
Let us
understand what truth is. If I asked you what the color of this wall is, you
would say white. If I put that same question to a person suffering from
jaundice the reply would be yellow. Who is speaking the truth? Apparently both
speak truth according to their own perception, but in reality one is right.
There is a
story. Once five blind men wanted to know what an elephant looked like. Since
they were blind they had to depend on their sense of touch. The sense of touch
and sound are highly developed in the blind. The first man touched the
elephant's body and said, “The elephant is like a wall." The second
touched the elephant’s leg and said, "No, the elephant is like a
pillar." The third who happened to touch the ear of the elephant said,”
The elephant is like a thick paper." The fourth that touched the tail
exclaimed, “You are all wrong. The elephant is like a rope." What is the
truth? Are they all correct? Can you say they are wrong?
The simple
meaning of truth is to express what is experienced. If you see a fruit, you say
it is a fruit. If you see an orange you say it is an orange. We experience
through the sense organs. What we see with our eyes, hear with our ears, smell
with our nose, touch with our skin and taste with the tongue-these five
perceptions expressed as is, without exaggeration, modification or undermining,
constitute simple truth. So truth is to express your experience without any
manipulation.
People in their daily life, many times face difficulty in accepting
truth or speaking truth. Now let us look at the deeper meaning of truth. In the
Bhagavad Gita it is said truth spoken in a wrong manner loses its value
anudvegakaram vakyam satyam priyahitam cha yat
svadhyayabhyasanam chaiva vajnmayam tapa ucyate
(The Gita XVII: 15)
Words that do
not cause any distress (annoyance), that are truthful, agreeable, and
beneficial, as well as regular study of scriptures (svadhyaya) are called austerities of speech.
satyam bruyat priyam bruyat na bruyat satyam apriyam
priyam ca nanrutam bruyat esha dharmah sanatanah
(Manu Smruti)
Speak truth in
such a way that it should be pleasing to others. Never speak truth, which is
unpleasant to others. Never speak untruth, which might be pleasant. This is the
path of eternal morality, sanatana dharma.
To speak truth
is an eternal value irrespective of time and place. But the expression of truth
should be accompanied by two conditions. Firstly, it should be presented in a
loving manner and secondly it should be spoken for the betterment of others.
How you speak is as important as what is said. Priyam means speech that does not hurt others. Hitam is something that is said for the good or betterment of
others. One should be careful of
speaking truth but not hurting others.
Let us look at an example. A person is very ill and the
doctor knows that the patient may not recover from his illness and that his
condition is deteriorating. But the doctor may not want to disclose that to the
patient, as it would do more damage than good to his patient. Is the doctor
right or wrong?
Scriptures say
if by telling a lie you can save a life you are justified in doing it. Once
there lived a monk on a mountain. He had only a blanket as his sole possession.
He used it as a bed as well as to cover his body. He was well known to the people
in the surrounding villages. On a full moon night as he was sleeping outdoors a
thief came to steal but could not find any thing. The monk who woke up, called
the thief and offered him the only blanket he had. The thief left with the
blanket but was caught soon as people recognized the blanket belonging to the
monk and brought him to the monk for evidence. Realizing that the man was in
danger the monk said," He did not steal the blanket. He was my guest one
day and I presented the blanket as a gift." Was the monk telling the
truth?
In both these
cases the actions were not wrong as the value of truthfulness was interpreted
for the betterment of others. So we should be careful in speaking the truth.
The purpose should be good and the words used and the manners in which they are
spoken are important. So the value of truthfulness is relative to a situation.
According to the Indian scriptures while living in the world of relativity
truth can be interpreted in many ways.
Another meaning
of truth is to be integrated in your thought word and deed. If you think one
thing, say another thing and do something different, it causes an inner
conflict. Even when the thought, word and deed are integrated and there is no
conflict, it should still serve a good purpose. As a contradictory example we
can look at a drug addict who thinks drugs are good, speaks of drugs as good
and takes drugs. Is he being truthful?
In essence
truthfulness means understanding things as they are, speaking as you think and
acting accordingly making sure it does not cause harm to others. These are all
relative truths. Now let us look at the truth as the absolute.
Spiritual Truth or the Absolute Truth
Satya comes from the root word sat. Sat means existence or eternity. To be established on what is
eternal, is truth. What is eternal can be defined as that which exists in all
the three periods of time- the past, present and the future. Let us analyze
more. Did this body of Prajnanananda exist forty years ago? No. The elements
may have existed in some other form but not as this body. Did this Ashram exist
two years ago? No. Any object that is limited by a name and a form is not
eternal. You are looking at a burning candle. The candle is burning giving heat
and light and when all the wax is burnt, the candle does not exist in the name
and form of a candle. Anything that changes is not eternal. The body you have
now is not the same as the body fifteen years ago. The body is subject to
changes. The body of the child becomes that of a youth, an adult and an old
person. The changing body is not eternal. But in the changing body there is a
changeless "I". Truth is within us. Constantly we should be seeking
this higher truth. When you were a child you said I, as a youth you said
I, as an adult you say I, and as an old person you say I.
This ‘I’ is the principle of soul and is not changing. The soul is
eternal and the body is not. To be established in soul, to realize that I am
the soul and not the body, is truth.