Adherence to Truth in human life!

There is nothing holier than Truth. Truth is really the basis for the entire creation; truth sustains the creation and in truth, everything merges finally. And God is veritably Truth. He is the embodiment of Truth. If you want to worship God, adhere to Truth in your life and God will be yours! In the recent past Mahatma Gandhi followed Truth throughout his life until his assassination at the hand of a religious fanatic! In India, people talk about the great emperor as the perfect follower of Truth. The gods wanted to test his tenacity to adhere to Truth. In mysterious circumstances, he lost his kingdom, become forlorn and he was wandering in jungle with his wife and only son. When god starts testing, there is no end. In spite of the severe test, the erstwhile emperor never deviated from uttering Truth. He was penniless and he searched for a job. Again he was parted from his family and lost his way in the jungle. Finally he secured a job in a crematorium. He was made in charge and the rule was to collect cremation charges from everyone before allowing the bodies to be cremated.

Fate followed his wife and only son, who was bitten by a poisonous snake and died. Chandramathi, the wife of Harischandra was inconsolable. Somehow, she brought to the body of her son to the cremation ghat. But the in charge refused to allow Chandramathi to cremate her son there since she needs to pay the charges. At that time, the god Indra who was testing Harischandra at the behest of a sage, manifested before him and appreciated him for his tenacity to adhere truth. Knowing well, it is his own son, he refused to allow the corpse to be burnt there! It was the most grueling test for mortals like us. By the blessings of the gods and sage, his son was revived and Harischandra got back his kingdom too. He was called “Sathya Harischandra” (Truthful Harischandra). India was the cradle for many such noble souls who lived virtuous life throughout without bothering about the grief and pain, they were subjected by fate!

Mahatma Gandhi was originally an ordinary boy who was raised in a virtuous family. His parents were upright, truthful and followed all religious adherences strictly. They wanted their son also to follow their footsteps. As a young boy, due to some compulsions, Gandhi uttered one lie. His father beat him severely on that day which made a deep mark in his conscious to be truthful whatever may be the circumstances. Also, the servant maid told the story of Harischandra to Gandhi and told him about the value of Truth. Thus Gandhi followed truth for the entire life. Even when he was shot at close range, he uttered the name of god thrice and died. Because of his supreme adherence to Truth and Non-violence, the mighty British had to cede Independence to India during 1947. Gandhi armed only with Truth could face the tyranny of British Imperialism and suffered imprisonment many times. But he boldly questioned the ways of British. Unable to contain him by force, ultimately Britain relieved India from its colonial regime!

Again, there is one more example of an emperor Sibi, who for the sake of upholding his promise to a hawk, gave his own flesh cut from his thigh. This was in response to saving a dove from the chase of the hawk. Finally the hawk confronted the king asking him “how he can obstruct its legitimate prey? To compensate that, the emperor spared his own flesh! All these show how the people of ancient India adhered to virtues. Again there was another emperor who punished his son for killing a calf during chariot ride. The king made his son to lie on the road and taken the chariot over his body! None can even imagine the supreme sacrifice of such noble souls. I can narrate many such legends here but due to space, I restrict with the above narrations. We need to follow five human virtues in life which are Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love and Non-violence. When Sathya Saibaba unveiled the flag for Sathya Sai Organization, it contained the five human virtues as emblem. If everyone starts following the five virtues, the world will become a veritable Heaven! May God guide our steps towards Truth and Non-violence!