24 October 2001, 02:46am IST
CHITRANJAN SAWANT.
The gurukul is in session. sons of kings, captains and commoners receive vedic education unencumbered by their rank or station in life. denial of admission to non-aryas or aryas of doubtful parentage was in evidence, though. maharathi karna and resilient eklavya are the two oft quoted names where the varnashram dharma based on karma or action and not janma or birth. truth was a casualty. untruth had a field day. the yug or era was dwapar, which was followed by kaliyug, the age we live in. such situations of manifest contradictions confuse common folk. how can one tread the path of truth when one is in a state of bewilderment? well, pray to god for guidance to lead you from untruth to truth. pious lives of saintly souls will be shining examples for confused minds to follow. again it is the gurukul. the homework is given after the class work is over. today it reads: satyam vad, dharmam char, that is, tell the truth and walk on the path of righteousness. the next day students are asked by the guru to recite the relevant sloka or verse. everyone does it, except one. his explanation for non-recitation is, "guruji, the axiom is easy to memorise but hard to practise". the said student is none other than yudhishthir, truth incarnate in later life. the scene changes. in a present day class of sanskrit literature the lady teacher is painstakingly dwelling on the need to be truthful today too. "travel to truth from untruth and you will be a happy and contented soul", she says emphatically. a backbencher protests equally forcefully. "madam, a man dedicated to truth is bound to die of starvation. his soul may be contented but the body will perish." the class was with him. they know that in our age the principles of untruth are the first primer, which every successful black marketeer or scamster learns in order to become a billionaire. the principles of truth and the garnering of pelf rarely go hand in hand. the theologians endeavour to explain by citing a parable. "devi saraswati, goddess of learning, and devi lakshmi, goddess of wealth, seldom see eye to eye and, therefore, can never live in harmony". the common man is once again confused. no wonder all ancient fables begin with an oft repeated sentence, "once upon a time there was a poor brahmin..." remember the story of poor sudama, a class fellow of lord krishna. the picture is as grim as ground zero after terrorists blasted the world trade center. well, where do we go from here? a practitioner of principles of truth has to convince his family that he means business. when your phone rings and you expect an unwelcome call, please do not tell your son or daughter to answer it with a proverbial lie, "father is not at home". it sounds like the personal assistant of a government functionary giving the stock answer. "sahib is in a meeting". such statements are patently false and universally disbelieved. moreover, when the parental head motivates youngsters to tell a lie, how on earth can he train them in principles and practices of truth. please ponder over this. rome was not built in a day. likewise, the lifelong edifice of truth cannot take tangible shape overnight. one has to work on it day in and day out. your plans of leading a truthful life will take deep roots and the tree of truth will be unshakeable in that citadel of untruth, the court of law — be it rome or ratlam. is a witness box waterloo of truthful witnesses? certainly not. lokmanya tilak stood firm on truth in the witness box in the privy council and was unshakable in a rapier-sharp cross examination. of course, it was the cultural-cum-political divide that gave an anti-indian mindset to the british jury and not his testimony based on truth. let us now meet our racketeer friend whose empire is built on foundations of untruth. does he eat well? no, ulcers bother him. does he sleep well? no, even sleeping pills are ineffective now. the non-payment of sales tax and concealment of income in the income tax returns have caught up with him now. the ill-gotten wealth has not given him happiness. so the end result is there. it is unenviable. the arya samaj, a powerful religious and social reformation movement of the 19th century india has 10 principles for guidance of all aryas. of these, as many as five principles dwell on truth and strongly recommend them to all human beings for a happy and healthy life. manurbhav is the vedic injunction. let truth be the flagship of our life. let satya or truth be our mantra: satyameva jayate or truth triumphs.
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