On Truth and Truthfulness

"सत्यम वद, धर्मं चर" (meaning, speak the truth; lead a righteous life), "सत्यमेव जयते" (meaning, truth alone triumphs) are a few of the myriad sayings advocating the doctrines of being truthful. All great saints, prophets and messengers of peace and humanity and all great books on religion and religious scriptures uphold that one should always speak the truth come what may.

Two parties are always involved whenever there is a transaction of truth; the speaker and the listener. But none of the above mentioned entities really tell how the listener should react to the speaker upon hearing the truth. It may be quite simple to speak out the truth. The speaker is greatly relieved of the burden that he was carrying till then. He thinks the burden is lost. But as a matter of fact, it just transferred to the other party and now its his turn to react to it.

I feel the role of the second person is quite important at this juncture. It is his reactions that will decide the future for the two, their relationships and their interactions. It can pave the way for a new beginning or it can seal off all existing paths. A very typical example being a person confessing his or her love to someone and now a big scene is created by the other person(if she/he doesn't feel the same way) as if a great crime has been committed. Keeping ones cool is the key to handling the situation in a way congenial to both parties. Else maybe one should follow the wise saying "सत्यम ब्रूयात, प्रियम ब्रूयात, न ब्रूयात अप्रिय सत्यम" (meaning, speak the truth, say pleasant things but never say the truth that is unpleasant). Well, now what exactly is pleasant or unpleasant is left to the good judgement of the speaker.