It is said that if a man speaks truth uninterruptedly for 12 years, whatever he speaks thereafter will come true. This reveals the power of truth as also the difficulty of remaining conscious of truth.

Theoretically speaking, truth should be a simple task as the most natural thing to do. Our thought and feelings, fears and aspirations, are known to us, yet we hardly express ourselves fully and truthfully. Instead we battle with our conscience, concoct stories and manipulate expressions. We choose the hard option driven by fear of rejection, of losing honour.

The saints who have reached the summit of existence have boldly ventured onto the path truth with conscience as their guide. Gandhiji’s uncompromising attitude towards truth is what made him mahatma. In his autobiography ‘My Experiments with Truth’, he unabashedly confesses his weaknesses and fallings, adducing that ‘if something is shameful to reveal, it is more shameful to hide.’

The half-naked fakir, partially clad in a skimpy dhoti, but fully clad in the attire of truth, was more powerful than battalions of armed men.

In the Ramayana, when Sita is asked to prove her chastity before an assembly, Mother Earth, unable to bear the travesty of justice opened up and took her daughter back into her womb. A distraught middle-aged woman came sobbing and fell at the feet of Kanchi Mahaswami. The compassionate saint blessed her as was his wont, and said: “Sowbhagyavati bhava” – May you enjoy a long happy married life. The startled woman informed the swami that she had just received news of her husband’s death on war front. But the swami said the words came from him spontaneously and hence may be presumed to be God’s diktat. Very soon news arrived the woman’s husband was taken prisoner and his return was imminent.

Truth is immortal. A shadow of lie can temporarily dim its illumination but only in passing. Lies however, have a limited life and need to continuously breed and proliferate to keep up the pretence constancy. Truth is like fresh water, cleansing the mind of sensory debris like desire, hatred, greed, jealousy, etc. Pursuing truth in thought and action, the mind attains a state of tranquillity. The only True thing in the world is God as rest is transient and so ‘temporary’ and hence untrue. Therefore, God is with the person who speaks truth. Such a person will have not only peace of mind but will be the ultimate winner.