SATYA NISHTA (ADHERENCE TO TRUTH)

SATYA NISHTA  (ADHERENCE TO TRUTH)

Satyam bruyat priyam bruyat, na bruyat satyam apriyam l

Priyam  cha nanritam  bruyat,  esha dharmah sanatanah ll

Speak truth in such a way that should be pleasing to others. Never speak truth which is unpleasant to others. Never speak untruth to please others.  This is the path of eternal morality, sanatana dharma.

'Satya nishta'  is one among the three  practices propounded by Kenopanishad to elicit  The Truth and Self Realisation, the other two being 1) Tapasya ( penance) and Control of Senses  2) Study of Vedas dealing with the Parama Satya (Eternal Truth).

To the  basic tenets about Truth  mentioned above, somehow another one slowly crept in as an addition in later ages. That is, ' One can speak untruth only in dire conditions of boosting up the morale of a patient'.  Some times  suppression of truth might also be justified  in the interest of protecting good from evil,  When Sita ( no less than Goddess in Indian mythology) was questioned by the guarding rakshasas (demons) about the visit of Hanumanta to her, she pretended ignorance and retorted back that it must be illusory form (incognito) of  one of those rakshasas only.  Dwelling on the subject  further, I may say that  there is a proverb in telugu - 'Veyi abaddalu cheppi ayina sare,  oka pelli cheyali' which means  - ' Thousand lies (untruth) may be told to get a marriage done '.   We need not probe into the wisdom of such practices at this juncture.  Any how, it is said  that if the basic tenets mentioned in the sloka are practised with austerity as 'Satya nishta' (adherence to truth) for a period of twelve years, it is more than tapasya (penance) that leads to  one's Enlightenment.

Now  let us have an interesting story about a hermit who handled an embarrassing situation tactfully to save a life.  A sage by name Satyavrata  was in  meditation under a tree near his hermitage. A wild
boar wounded by a hunter came out from bushes towards him.  He opened  his eyes and saw the boar with an  arrow pricked into the body. The boar saw him pitiably  and rushed into his hut for safety.
Just then the chasing hunter came towards the hermitage  hurriedly and upon seeing  the sage asked
if he had noticed the wounded boar.  Now the sage was in a dilemma.  If he tells the truth ( observing Satya nishta) that the boar is in his hut, the hunter would surely take the life of the boar then and there and return home with it.  If he tells a lie that he has not seen the boar, to save it's life, he would be breaking the austerity of Satya nishta.  He thought for a while to overcome from the dilemma. Then
turned towards the hunter and stated, " Those which have seen,  can not tell (eyes) ; and the one which can tell, has not seen (mouth)".  Perplexed by this confusing statement the hunter murmured in  himself and left the place in search of the boar, in another direction.Thus the life of the wounded boar was saved by the sage  without breaking the austerity of Satya nishta.

Om Shanti !