The Upanishad says Satyameva Jayate (truth alone triumphs). Truth gives the ultimate power. But is the truth so easy to understand and follow? Many people also erroneously believe that all truth is not available and that much of it needs to be discovered. The greatest irony of the present world is that the truth for one section of the population is untruth for another. Then how do we define truth?
First, it should be clear that truth, fact and reality are synonymous, having an absolute connotation. Truth can have no variants, shades or hues. ‘The earth revolves around the sun’ is a truth. Similarly, ‘death of man is certain’ is also a truth and so is ‘sugar is sweet’ or ‘four added to six makes ten’. These are examples of truth without any variants.
These are incontrovertible and uncontested statements. On similar lines, truths exist on matters about the purpose of human living, the cause and cure of human misery, the way to eternal happiness, the creation of the earth and celestial bodies and a host of subjects. Therefore, truth is an absence of contradiction between what one observes, perceives and experiences.
Coming to religion, the term refers to a code of human living. Human life is characterised by desires, ambitions and cravings, many of which remain unfulfilled. A person retrospectively observes that the cause of non-fulfilment was untruth—lack of correct knowledge.
Hence, lack of truth is the root cause of all human misery and truth is the cure for all misery. That is why the creator of the universe handed down to his human subjects all true knowledge in the form of four Vedas at the time of creation.
These Vedas—Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda—were revealed to the sages Agni, Vayu, Aditya and Angira respectively and then passed on to successive generations. These Vedas are unquestionable compendiums of true knowledge and, therefore, contain all eternal truths related to the creation, creator and living souls.
All knowledge has been derived from the Vedas. But the same Vedas declare that the creator is omniscient, and man is limited in intellect and understanding. Because of this inherent limitation of man, there exist multiple variants of truth, half-truths and falsities in the world. Because of such semi-truths or falsities prevailing, human desires remain unfulfilled, global peace remains a distant dream and fear, tension, poverty, disease and crime never disappears from the world.
A fundamental truth is that every human being seeks happiness or fulfilment, but it frequently eludes him. A living plan based on eternal truths has the unmistakable potential of liberating man from all sorrow and misery. So the truth is at the core of happiness; it is the driving engine of the process of liberation.
Adherence to truth solves every problem, however intractable it may appear. Embracing truth equips a man to face every oddity and challenge life throws at him. Truth is the greatest antidote to every misery. A person who constantly seeks truth gets refined continuously. Understanding truth and adopting it catalyses the process of emancipation of man from all sorrow and sets him in a fast-track mode of spiritual transcendence that culminates in salvation.
Following the path of truth is like treading the proverbial sword’s edge. Truth has to be understood and then embraced. Embracing the truth is hard. It requires a human being to be rational and logical in his perspective and always remain in the learning mode, keeping his ego from getting puffed up. He needs to exercise control over his mind and senses and use his intellect well.
He needs to have unflinching faith in the higher power that is and pick up threads of divine, eternal knowledge from various sources including scriptures. He needs to keep himself fit, physically and mentally. He needs to constantly brush up on his knowledge and understanding to remain in tune with the truth because he is fallible.
Keeping the body, mind and intellect healthy is a tough regimen, but if you know the true plan to keep them healthy and follow it tenaciously, you become a yogi and acquire the golden key to all riches. Understanding and embracing truth and implementing it in life will provide you with the wherewithal to achieve all your mundane goals and, beyond that, spiritual goals for attaining lasting happiness, leading to divine bliss—the ultimate goal of human existence.
A living plan based on eternal truths has the unmistakable potential of liberating man from all sorrow and misery. So the truth is the driving engine of the process of liberation.
Sehgal is a Delhi-based author