Always tell the Truth

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namast� EM,

Regarding being truthful, or truth-full, in English although the suffix 'ful' often has the meaning stated as 'being full of', in reality that's not the case. Being 'full of' implies that there is no room for anything else.

If I have a pot and it is full - there is no room for anything else.
If I am full of truth, there is no room for un-truth to exist.


praṇām

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam Yajvan: I understand what you mean, but in everyday language that is not what it means. It just means honest. I wish I were a truth-full person, but I'm not as maya has entered the picture.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/truthful

Aum Namasivaya

[kd gupta]

Telling truth must be a principle but saying the truth is not always feasible . here is the neeti [ policy] shloka..सत्यम ब्रूयात प्रियं ब्रूयात न ब्रूयात सत्यमप्रियम .
प्रियं च नान्रतम वर्जे एश धर्मः सनातनः .
Priyam cha namratum varje , means false praise which is not untrue [ chamchagiri] , most of the prayers like ...om jai jagdish hare...type are prohibited .
For na bruyat satyamapriyam this may be looked , as god spoke to narda....
http://vedastra.blogspot.com/2010/01/garbage.html

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namast� EM

Vannakkam Yajvan: I understand what you mean, but in everyday language that is not what it means. It just means honest. I wish I were a truth-full person, but I'm not as maya has entered the picture.

It seems then the string could then be named Always be honest, then there is a different conversation , no?

satya सत्य - truth , reality or satyena 'truly'.
satyaṃ - rooted (√) kṛ , to make true

satya is another name for viṣṇu , or rāma-candra and the aśvattha tree . Some use this word with satya-vatī the mother of vyāsa.

You say you are not truth-full. This could be, yet it is only temporary. The core of you is completely filled with truth.
How so? From satya we come to sat-ya. This sat is Being, existence itself. Tathā sati , or 'if it be so' then your very essence (sāra�) is this sat.

You are destined to know/realize this... perhaps this life? The next? Tomorrow? Do not consider yourself a fallen being, your essence is that which upholds this Universe.

praṇām

1. sāra - the substance or essence or marrow or cream or heart or essential part of anything , best part , quintessence

[sanjaya]

So...forgive me if I'm missing the post that addressed this. But what have we decided about the example of King Harishchandra? He seems to be a clear example from Hindu history on the virtue of always telling the truth, even to the point of absurdity. It'd be nice if anyone has some nice logical argument or piece of linguistic insight (Yajvan?) that can get us out of accepting the idea that it's best to always be completely truthful. Indeed, everything else I see in Hindu Scripture suggests otherwise. But King Harishchandra always spoke truthfully, and after much suffering was immensely rewarded by God. What do we make of this?

[upsydownyupsy mv ss]

There is no "this is the only way to moksha" and dvaita and advaita are legitimate paths to the divine and I think they compliment each other rather than oppose each other.

In one of the other threads, I mentioned, I'm in a bitter confusion between advaitha and dvaitha, before I posted this thread. kd gupta told us that advaitha is tattva and dvaitha is truth. It didn't make any sense, thats the reason I made such a post. Ur statement is clear, but his was rather ......

[kd gupta]

In one of the other threads, I mentioned, I'm in a bitter confusion between advaitha and dvaitha, before I posted this thread. kd gupta told us that advaitha is tattva and dvaitha is truth. It didn't make any sense, thats the reason I made such a post. Ur statement is clear, but his was rather ......

You can understand the same language here , which has no diff .
Adhibhootam ksharo bhaavah purushashchaadhidaivatam;
Adhiyajno�hamevaatra dehe dehabhritaam vara...4/8 gita
Adhibhuta (knowledge of the elements) pertains to My perishable Nature, and the
Purusha or soul is the Adhidaiva; I alone am the Adhiyajna here in this body, O best among the
embodied (men)!
So it can be concluded that the adhiyajna makes the reality and is tattva while adhidaiva gives the true sense of dvaita .

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté sanjaya

It'd be nice if anyone has some nice logical argument or piece of linguistic insight (Yajvan?) that can get us out of accepting the idea that it's best to always be completely truthful.What do we make of this?

Let me offer the following for one's kind consideration. If we look to the śanti parvan ( section) of the mahābhārata, yudhiṣṭhira asks bhīṣma -ji¹ the following:

• What is truth ?
• What is falsehood?
• Under what conditions should (can?) a person tell an untruth?

Bhīṣma-ji offers us the following: To tell the truth is consistent with dharma (~righteousness~).

So, one may say that is pretty fuzzy to me, is there a better definition of this righteousness?

Bhīṣma-ji helps us and says its not easy to indicate it ( or pin it down - my words here) - no one can indicate it accurately. Yet that said, this righteousness was declared by brahman for the advancement and growth of all creatures - therefore that which leads to advancement and growth is righteousness. This righteousness was also declared for restraining creatures from injuring one another.
Hence it is called righteousness (dharma) because it upholds all creatures.

If we look at the word dharma it is rooted dhṛ धृ (dhri) meaning to hold , bear (also bring forth) , carry , maintain , preserve , keep. So dharma is that which upholds. What does it uphold? Advancement + growth + restraint from injury.

Now that said, bhīṣma-ji continues:
I will now tell you what is generally unknown by men.

• There, where falsehood would assume the aspect of truth, truth should not be said.
• There again where truth would assume the aspect of falsehood even falsehood should not be said.

But the question is still - when can one tell untruth? When there is the notion of harm to come. Bhīṣma-ji says if there is the notion of being plundered ( by robbers) or adding to another that will bring plundering, then silence is best. Yet if in harms-way, and if one can escape the robbers (or sinful men) by false oath, one may do so without incurring sin. He says, when life is at risk one may speak an untruth.

praṇām

words

• yudhiṣṭhira - from yudi, 'in the battle', and sthira, "calm, undisturbed" or he that is calm in battle.
• bhīṣma son of śāṃtanu and gaṅgā . In the great war of the bharata-s he took the side of the sons of dhṛtarāṣṭra against the sons of pāṇḍu , and was renowned for his continence , wisdom , bravery , and fidelity to his word ;The bhāghavataṁ says that there are only twelve men in the whole world who know the ins and outs of dharma in all its subtlety. These twelve are: Brahmā, the Creator; Narada, the roving sage; Lord Śiva; Lord Subrahmaṇya; the sage Kapila; Manu the law-giver; the boy-devotee Prahlada; King Janaka; bhīṣma; King Bali; the boy-sage śuka son of vyāsa narrator of the bhāgavata-purāṇa to king parikṣit, and Yama, the Lord of Death and Dispenser of Justice

[NayaSurya]

A child of 10, it was the first Monday of Summer break (the traditional 3 months of June, July and August that children are given from school to help with farm duties).

I was in a short night shirt that said "Leo" and a pair of underwear....hands deep in a sinkfull of dishes...and it happened.

A hulking man well over 6 feet rushed through the front door and shut it behind him. My Mother gone to work and my father in the DMZ in Korea. I rush around the corner from the kitchen and find this filthy man towering over me. He was dirty, I could see and smell the sweat from his stained shirt and filthy pants. His hair, long and greasy....covered by a dirty, crooked baseball hat.

Just as shocked to see me as I was him, he stammered trying to make up a lie. "Some lady dropped me off here to work on her house."

It was summer, our mother had covered the windows to keep the hot sun out...and this blinded me from knowing his true intentions.

He looked down upon me as a man who is changing his plans...one who came to rob...but now seeing me...he begins to think of other things.

He asks me if my parents were home. This ten year old golden child with blue eyes looked up to him and without hesitation spoke the word.."Yes."

The man's eyes changed again...this time almost seeming to retreat wholly...he requests to use the restroom...which I believe was his way of stalling to figure out what to do.

Without hesitation I call to my older sister, 16 and very fat...I thought she would be able to help me fight him off. She had found a hiding spot in the basement and refused to come help. Only my brave tiny little sister came to help me. I told her of the lie and then I began having a one sided conversation with my "Father" calling down the basement stairs and telling him we had company.

The fat hulking man comes rushing out the door..."so you're father's HOME?"

I nodded and told him of our plans to go fishing in the lake upon the military reservation...that my father was a vet and a Master SGNT in the U.S. Army. I then offered to go get him to speak with the man.

Just as cooly as that I played out the bluff...and the man then fully retreated from my home.

As I went to the door to lock it shut the truck pulled up to the front door, back opened to empty the house out....raced out of the yard.

This lie saved the life of my little sister and I...of this I have no doubt. Although... I often wished, I had simply told the whole truth and ended this journey then. But, my sister was there you see...and I couldn't let her be harmed.

A ten year old child who was so innocent, unable to lie...suddenly told such a story that this criminal ran.

I would like to say I have always told the truth, but the times when lies have been necessary are so profound I remember them by the event.

My Father was there that day, my true Father...watching over this bewildered little being...even if she would rather have left this place.


So maybe that wasn't such a good example of a lie...and maybe other examples really aren't such lies either.

When you tell the person your father is home to save a life...or when...filled with such love...you tell another they look beautiful...with their makeup run from crying and a snotty nose.

Because they are not really lies. Father is always home....inside of you...and you are always beautiful...because of this wondrous truth.

I am full from the truth of this.