Satya

(Sanskrit: ; IAST: ) is a Sanskrit word that can be translated as "truth" or "essence.“ In Indian religions, it refers to a kind of virtue found across them. This virtue most commonly refers to being truthful in one's thoughts, speech and action. For Yoga particularly, ''satya'' is one of five yamas, the virtuous restraint from falsehood and distortion of reality in one's expressions and actions.

Etymology and meaning

In the Vedas and later sutras, the meaning of the word evolves into an ethical concept about truthfulness and an important virtue. It means being true and consistent with reality in one's thought, speech, and action.

has cognates in a number of diverse Indo-European languages, including the word "sooth" and "sin" in English, "" ("") in Russian, "" (truthful) in Danish, "" in Swedish, and "" in Avestan, the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism.

() is the root of many Sanskrit words and concepts such as ("pure, truthful") and ("truth"). The Sanskrit root has several meanings or translations:

# "Absolute reality"
# "Fact"
# "Brahman" (not to be confused with Brahmin)
# "that which is unchangeable"
# "that which has no distortion"
# "that which is beyond distinctions of time, space, and person"
# "that which pervades the universe in all its constancy"

is a common prefix in ancient Indian literature and implies variously that which is good, true, genuine, virtuous, being, happening, real, existing, enduring, lasting, or essential; for example, means true doctrine, means one devoted to the truth. In ancient texts, fusion words based on refer to "Universal Spirit, Universal Principle, Being, Soul of the World, Brahman".

The negation of is , that is delusion, distorted, untrue, the fleeting impression that is incorrect, invalid, and false. The concepts of and are famously expressed in the Pavamana Mantra found in the (1.3.28):

is one of the three characteristics of Brahman as described in . This association between , 'truth', and , ultimate reality, is also expressed in Hindu cosmology, wherein , the highest heaven of Hindu cosmology, is the abode of .

Hinduism

Vedic literature

is a central theme in the Vedas. It is equated with and considered necessary to the concept (, )—that which is properly joined, order, rule, nature, balance, harmony. results from in the Vedas, as it regulates and enables the operation of the universe and everything within it. is considered essential, and without it, the universe and reality falls apart, cannot function.

In Rigveda, opposed to and are and (falsehood). Truth and truthfulness is considered as a form of reverence for the divine, while falsehood a form of sin. includes action and speech that is factual, real, true, and reverent to in Books 1, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10 of Rigveda. However, isn't merely about one's past that is in context in the Vedas, it has one's current and one's future contexts as well. states, that in Rigveda, " is the modality of acting in the world of , as the truth to be built, formed or established".

Upanishads

is widely discussed in various Upanishads, including the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad where is called the means to Brahman, as well as Brahman (Being, true self). In hymn 1.4.14 of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, ''Satya'' (truth) is equated to Dharma (morality, ethics, law of righteousness), as

Taittiriya Upanishad's hymn 11.11 states, "Speak the (truth), conduct yourself according to the (morality, ethics, law)".

Truth is sought, praised in the hymns of Upanishads, held as one that ultimately, always prevails. The Mundaka Upanishad, for example, states in Book 3, Chapter 1,

Sandilya Upanishad of Atharvaveda, in Chapter 1, includes ten forbearances as virtues, in its exposition of Yoga. It defines as "the speaking of the truth that conduces to the well being of creatures, through the actions of one's mind, speech, or body."

Deussen states that is described in the major Upanishads with two layers of meanings—one as empirical truth about reality, another as abstract truth about universal principle, being, and the unchanging. Both of these ideas are explained in early Upanishads, composed before , by variously breaking the word or into two or three syllables. In later Upanishads, the ideas evolve and transcend into as truth (or truthfulness), and as the Being, Be-ness, real Self, the eternal.

Epics

The '' Shanti Parva'' of the Mahabharata states, "The righteous hold that forgiveness, truth, sincerity, and compassion are the foremost (of all virtues). Truth is the essence of the Vedas."

The Epic repeatedly emphasizes that is a basic virtue, because everything and everyone depends on and relies on .

Yoga Sutras

In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, it is written, “When one is firmly established in speaking truth, the fruits of action become subservient to him." In Yoga sutra, is one of the five , or virtuous restraints, along with (restraint from violence or injury to any living being); (restraint from stealing); (celibacy or restraint from sexually cheating on one's partner); and (restraint from covetousness and craving). Patanjali considers as a restraint from falsehood in one's action (body), words (speech, writing), or feelings / thoughts (mind). In Patanjali's teachings, one may not always know the truth or the whole truth, but one knows if one is creating, sustaining, or expressing falsehood, exaggeration, distortion, fabrication, or deception. is, in Patanjali's Yoga, the virtue of restraint from such falsehood, either through silence or through stating the truth without any form of distortion.

Jainism

is one of the five vows prescribed in Jain Agamas. was also preached by Mahavira. According to Jainism, not to lie or speak what is not commendable. The underlying cause of falsehood is passion and therefore, it is said to cause (injury).

According to the Jain text '' Sarvārthasiddhi'': "that which causes pain and suffering to the living is not commendable, whether it refers to actual facts or not".

According to the Jain text '' Puruşārthasiddhyupāya'':

Buddhism

The term (Pali: ) is translated into English as "reality" or "truth." In terms of the Four Noble Truths (), the Pali can be written as , , , and .

'The Four Noble Truths' () are the briefest synthesis of the entire teaching of Buddhism, since all those manifold doctrines of the threefold Pali canon are, without any exception, included therein. They are the truth of suffering (mundane mental and physical phenomenon), of the origin of suffering (, craving), of the extinction of suffering ( or ), and of the Noble Eightfold Path leading to the extinction of suffering (the eight supra-mundane mind factors).

Sikhism

Sat or truthfulness is one of the 5 virtues in Sikhism.

Indian emblem motto

The motto of the republic of India's emblem is Satyameva Jayate which is literally translated as 'Truth alone triumphs'.

See also

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References

{{Portal bar, India, Religion, Hinduism, Philosophy

Sanskrit words and phrases
Jain philosophical concepts
Buddhist philosophical concepts
Hindu philosophical concepts
Sikh philosophical concepts
Buddhist ethics
Jain ethics
Hindu ethics
Theories of truth
Historical Vedic religion