Truth (Satya) from Mahabharata

7/30/2019 Truth (Satya) from Mahabharata

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From The Mahabharata, Santi ParvaSection CLVIII

Addressing King YudhishthiraBhishma said: I shall now tell thee of those who are calledgood and whose practice are pure.

They who have no fear of an obligation to return to this world(after death), they who have no fear of the next world, theywho are not addicted to animal food and who have no likingfor what is agreeable and no dislike for what is otherwise,they to whom good behaviour is ever dear, they in whomthere is self-restraint, they to whom pleasure and pain areequal, they who have truth for their high refuge, they whogive but not take, they who have compassion, they who

worship Pitris (deceased ancestors), gods and guests, theywho are always ready to exert themselves for the good ofothers, they who are universal benefactors, they who arepossessed of great courage (of mind), they who observe allthe duties laid down in the scriptures, they that are devotedto the good of all, they who can give their all and lay downtheir very lives for others, are regarded as good and virtuous.Those promoters of righteousness are incapable of being

forced away from the path of virtue. Their conduct,conformable to the model set by the righteous men of old,

can never be otherwise. They are perfectly fearless, they aretranquil, they are mild, and they always adhere to the rightpath. Full of compassion, they are always worshipped by thegood. They are free from lust and anger. They are notattached to any worldly object. They have no pride. They areobservant of excellent vows. They are always objects of

regard. Do thou, therefore, O Yudhishthira, always wait uponthem and seek instruction from them. They never acquirevirtue for the sake of wealth or of fame. They acquire it onthe other hand, because it is a duty like that of cherishing thebody.Fear, wrath, restlessness and sorrow do not dwell in them.There is not the outward garb of religion for misleading theirfellowmen. There is no mystery with them. They are perfectly


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contented. There is no error of judgment arising fromcovetousness. They are always devoted to truth and sincerity.Their hearts never fall from righteousness. Thou should showthy regard for them always, O son of Kunti!They are never delighted at any acquisition or pained at any

loss. Without attachment to anything, and freed from pride,they are wedded to the quality of goodness, and they cast anequal eye on all. Gain and loss, weal and woe, the agreeableand the disagreeable, life and death, are equal in the eyes ofthose men of firm tread, engaged in the pursuit of (divine)knowledge, and devoted to the path of tranquillity andrighteousness.Keeping thy senses under restraint and without yielding to

heedlessness, thou should always worship those high-souledpersons who bear such love for virtue. O blessed one, oneswords become productive of good only through the favour ofthe gods. Under other circumstances, words produce evilconsequence.[Note: This is how Neelkantha, the scholar and translator ofMahabharata, explains the last line: Bhishma is anxious aboutthe effect of his instructions. Bhishma says that those

instructions would bear fruit if the gods will it; otherwise, hiswords would go for nothing, however carefully he might

speak.]

From The MahabharataSanti Parva, Section CLVIII

Translated by Sri Kisari Mohan GanguliYudhishthira said: I desire, O bull of Bharatas race, to hear indetail the source from which sin proceeds and the foundationupon which it rests.Bhishma said: Hear, O King, what the foundation is of sin.Covetousness alone is a great destroyer of merit andgoodness. From covetousness proceeds sin. It is from thissource that sin and irreligiousness flow, together with great


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misery. This covetousness is the spring of also all the cunningand hypocrisy in the world. It is covetousness that makesmen commit sin. From covetousness proceeds wrath; fromcovetousness flows lust, and it is from covetousness that lossof judgment, deception, pride, arrogance, and malice, as also

vindictiveness, loss of prosperity, loss of virtue, anxiety, andinfamy spring. Miserliness, cupidity, desire for every kind ofimproper act, pride of birth, pride of learning, pride of beauty,pride of wealth, pitilessness for all creatures, malevolencetowards all, mistrust in respect of all, insincerity towards all,appropriation of other peoples wealth, ravishment of otherpeoples wives, harshness of speech, anxiety, propensity tospeak ill of others, violent craving for the indulgence of lust,

gluttony, liability to premature death, violent propensitytowards malice, irresistible liking for falsehood, unconquerableappetite for indulging in passions, insatiable desire forindulging in ear, evil-speaking, boastfulness, arrogance,non-doing of duties, rashness, and perpetration of every kindof evil act,- all these proceed from covetousness.In life. men are unable, whether infants or youth or adults, toabandon covetousness. Such is the nature of covetousness

that it never decays even with the decay of life. Like theocean that can never be filled by the constant discharge of

even immeasurable rivers of immeasurable depths,covetousness is incapable of being gratified by acquisitions toany extent.The covetousness, however, which is never gratified byacquisitions and satisfied by the accomplishment of desires,that which is not known in its real nature by the gods, the

Gandharvas, the Asuras, the great snakes, and, in fact, by allclasses of beings, that irresistible passion, along with thatfolly which invites the heart to the unrealities of the world,should ever be conquered by a person of cleansed soul.Pride, malice, slander, crookedness, and incapacity to hearother peoples good, are vices, that are to be seen in personsof uncleansed soul under the domination of covetousness.Even persons of great learning who bear in their minds all the


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voluminous scriptures, and who are competent to dispel thedoubts of others, show themselves in this respect to be ofweak understanding and feel great misery in consequence ofthis passion. Covetous men are wedded to envy and anger.They are outside the pale of good behaviour. Of crooked

hearts, the speeches they utter are sweet. They resemble,therefore, dark pits whose mouths are covered with grass.They attire themselves in the hypocritical cloak of religion. Oflow minds, they rob the world, setting up (if need be) thestandard of religion and virtue. Relying upon the strength ofapparent reasons, they create diverse kinds of schisms inreligion. Intent upon accomplishing the purposes of cupidity,they destroy the ways of righteousness.

When wicked-souled persons under the domination ofcovetousness apparently practise the duties of righteousness,the consequence that results is that the desecrationscommitted by them soon become current among men. Pride,anger, arrogance, insensibility, paroxysms of joy and sorrow,and self-importance, all these are to be seen in personsswayed by covetousness. Know that they who are alwaysunder the influence of covetousness are wicked.

The MahabharataSanti Parva, Section CLXIITranslated by Sri Kisari Mohan GanguliYudhishthira said: Brahmanas and Rishis and Pitris and thegods all applaud the duty of truth. I desire to hear of truth.Discourse to me upon it, O grandsire! What are the

indications, O king, of truth? How may it be acquired? What isgained by practising truth, and how? Tell me all this.Bhishma said: A confusion of the duties of the four orders isnever applauded. That which is called Truth always exists in apure and unmingled state in every one of those four orders.With those that are good, Truth is always a duty. Indeed,Truth is an eternal duty. One should reverentially bow untoTruth. Truth is the highest refuge (of all). Truth is duty; Truth


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is penance; Truth is Yoga; and Truth is the eternal Brahman.Truth has been said to be Sacrifice of a higher order.Everything rests upon Truth. I shall now tell thee the forms ofTruths one after another, and its indications also in due order.It behoveth thee to hear also as to how Truth may be

acquired.Truth, O Bharata, as it exists in all the world, is of thirteenkinds. The forms that Truth assumes are impartiality,self-control, forgiveness, modesty, endurance, goodness,renunciation, contemplation, dignity, fortitude, compassion,and abstention from injury. These, O great monarch, are thethirteen forms of Truth. Truth is immutable, eternal, andunchangeable. It may be acquired through practices which do

not militate against any of the other virtues. It may also beacquired through Yoga. When desire and aversion, as also lustand wrath, are destroyed, that attribute in consequence ofwhich one is able to look upon ones own self and ones foe,upon ones good and ones evil, with an unchanging eye, iscalled impartiality.Self control consists in never wishing for another manspossessions, in gravity and patience and capacity to allay the

fears of others in respect of ones own self, and immunity fromdisease. It may be acquired through knowledge. Devotion to

the practice of liberality and the observance of all duties areregarded by the wise as constituting goodwill. One comes toacquire universal goodwill by constant devotion to Truth.As regards non-forgiveness and forgiveness, it should bestated that the attribute through which an esteemed and goodman endures both what is agreeable and disagreeable, is said

to be forgiveness. This virtue may well be acquired throughthe practice of truthfulness.That virtue, in consequence of which an intelligent man,contented in mind and speech, achieves many good deedsand never incurs the censure of others, is called modesty. Itis acquired through the aid of righteousness. That virtuewhich forgives for the sake of virtue and profit is calledendurance. It is a form of forgiveness. It is acquired through


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patience, and its purpose is to attach people to ones self. Thecasting off of affection as also of all earthly possessions, iscalled renunciation. Renunciation can never be acquiredexcept by one who is divested of anger and malice.That virtue in consequence of which one does good, with

watchfulness and care, to all creatures is called goodness. Ithas no particular shape and consists in the divestment of allselfish attachments. That virtue owing to which one remainsunchanged in happiness and misery is called fortitude. Thatwise man who desires his own good always practises thisvirtue. One should always practise forgiveness anddevotedness to truth. That man of wisdom who succeeds incasting off joy and fear and wrath, succeeds in acquiring

fortitude. Abstention from injury as regards all creatures inthought, word and deed, kindness and gift, are the eternalduties of those who are good.These thirteen attributes, though apparently distinct from oneanother, have but one and the same form, viz., Truth. Allthese, O Bharata, support Truth and strengthen it. It isimpossible, O monarch, to exhaust the merits of Truth. It isfor these reasons that the Brahmanas, the Pitris, and the

gods, applaud Truth. There is no duty that is higher thanTruth, and no sin more heinous than untruth. Indeed, Truth is

the very foundation of righteousness. For this reason, oneshould never destroy Truth. From Truth proceeds gifts, andsacrifice with presents, as well as the threefold Agnihotras(sacred fire ceremony), the Vedas, and everything else thatleads to righteousness. Once upon a time a thousandhorse-sacrifices and Truth were weighed against each other in

the balance. Truth weighed heavier than a thousandhorse-sacrifices.

Mahabharata, Santi Parva, Section CIXTranslated by Sri Kisari Mohan Ganguli

Yudhishthira said: How, O Bharata, should a person act whodesires to adhere to virtue? O bull of Bharats race, possessed


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as thou art of learning, tell me this, questioned by me. Truthand falsehood exist, covering all the worlds. Which of thesetwo O king, should a person adopt that is firm in virtue? Whatagain is truth? What is falsehood? What again, is eternalvirtue? On what occasions should a person tell the truth, and

what occasions should he tell an untruth?Bhishma said: To tell the truth is consistent withrighteousness. There is nothing higher than truth. I shall now,O Bharata, say unto thee that which is not generally known tomen. There where falsehood would assume the aspect oftruth, truth should not be said. There, again, where truthwould assume the aspect of falsehood, even falsehood shouldbe said. That ignorant person incurs sin who says truth, which

is dissociated from righteousness. That person is said to beconversant with duties who can distinguish truth fromfalsehood. [Note: i.e. who knows when truth becomes asharmful as untruth, and untruth becomes as righteous astruth.]Even a person that is disrespectable, that is of uncleansedsoul, and that is very cruel, may succeed in earning greatmerit as the hunter Valaka by slaying the blind beast (that

threatened to destroy all creatures). [Note:This refers to anepisode in Karna Parva.] How extraordinary it is that a person

of foolish understanding, though desirous of acquiring merit(by austere penances) still committed a sinful act! [Alludes toKarna Parva. The Rishi, by pointing out the place wherecertain innocent persons had concealed themselves whileflying from a company of robbers, incurred the sin of murder.]The question thou hast asked me is a difficult one, since it is

difficult to say what righteousness is. It is not easy to indicateit. No one in discoursing upon righteousness can indicate itaccurately. Righteousness was declared (by Brahman) for theadvancement and growth of all creatures. Therefore, thatwhich leads to advancement and growth is righteousness.Righteousness was declared for restraining creatures frominjuring one another. Therefore, that is righteousness whichprevents injury to creatures. Righteous (Dharma) is so called


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because it upholds all creatures. In fact, all creatures areupheld by righteousness. Therefore, that is righteousnesswhich is capable of upholding all creatures. Some say thatrighteousness consists in what has been inculcated in theSrutis (scriptures). Others do not agree to this. I would not

censure them that say so. Everything again, has not been laiddown in the Srutis.[Note: This refers to the well-known definition of Dharmaascribed to sage Vasishtha, viz., "That which is laid down inthe Srutis and Smritis is Dharma." The defect of this definitionis that the Srutis and the Smritis do not include every duty.Hence Vasishtha was obliged to add that where these aresilent, the examples and practices of the good ought to be the

guides of men, etc.]Sometimes men (robbers), desirous of obtaining the wealth ofsome one, make enquiries (for facilitating the act of plunder).One should never answer such enquiries. That is a settledduty. If by maintaining silence, one succeeds in escaping, oneshould remain silent. If, on the other hand, ones silence at atime when one must speak rouses suspicion, it would bebetter on such an occasion to say what is untrue than what is

true. This is a settled conclusion. If one can escape fromsinful men by even a (false) oath, one may take it without

incurring sin. One should not, even if one were able, giveaway his wealth to sinful men. Wealth given to sinful menafflicts even the giver. If a creditor desires to make his debtorpay off the loan by rendering bodily service, the witnesseswould all be liars if summoned by the creditor for establishingthe truth of the contract, they did not say what should be

said. When life is at risk, or on occasion of marriage, one maysay an untruth.One that seeks for virtue does not commit a sin by saying anuntruth, if that untruth were said to save the wealth andprosperity of others or for the religious purposes. Havingpromised to pay, one becomes bound to fulfil his promise.Upon failure, let the self-appropriator be forcibly enslaved. Ifa person without fulfilling a righteous engagement acts with


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impropriety, he should certainly be afflicted with the rod ofchastisement for having adopted such behaviour. A deceitfulperson, falling away from all duties and abandoning those ofhis own order, always wishes to betake himself to thepractices of Asuras (demons) for supporting life. Such a sinful

wretch living by deceit should be slain by every means. Suchsinful men think that there is nothing in this world higher thanwealth. Such men should never be tolerated. No one shouldeat with them. They should be regarded as fallen down inconsequence of their sins. Indeed, fallen away from thecondition of humanity and shut out from the grace of thegods, they are even like evil genii.Without sacrifices and without penances as they are, forbear

from their companionship. If their wealth be lost, they commiteven suicide which is exceedingly pitiable. Among those sinfulthere is no one to whom you can say, This is your duty. Letyour heart turn to it. Their settled convictions are that there isnothing in this world that is equal to wealth. The person thatwould slay such a creature would incur no sin. He who killshim kills one that has been already killed by his own acts. Ifslain, it is the dead that is slain. He who vows to destroy

those persons of lost senses should keep his vows. Suchsinners are, like the crow and the vulture, dependent on

deceit for their living. After the dissolution of their (human)bodies, they take rebirth as crows and vultures. One should,in any matter, behave towards another as that other behavesin that matter. He who practises deceit should be resistedwith deceit while one that is honest should be treated withhonesty.

Truth (Satya) from Mahabharata

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