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Jaina Acara : Siddhānta aura Svarūpa
233
To practise truth is like moving on the edge of a sword. An acrobat may do it to please the audience but it is harder to tread the path of truth unflinchingly. Even an acrobat must always be alert, lest his leg should be slit. A monk, however, has to be much more cautious at every step than a juggler who has to do it only while exhibiting his artistry.
The Governmental coin is inscribed with 'Satyameva Jayate' i.e. truth alone wins) .Religious, social and political leaders ask us to abjure falsehood and stick to truth. But the poor effect on the people is something which should cause concern.
R. W. Emerson said that the best salutation to truth is its observance. Mahātmā Gāndhī said that he who is truthful by mind, body and speech recognises God and becomes eligible for emancipation.
None can suffer flies and mosquitoes, but when dead, his body may be cut into parts without his awareness at all. He who is devoted to truth shuns evils like mosquitoes. Confession and expiation wash away all sins but all this must be sincere. In case a sick man conceals his disease, the attending physician can do litle. Likewise if a defaulter hides his sins, he can never improve. That will be his spiritual degradation.
A truthful person does not fear being shot at. The Bible says that the power of truth far exceeds that of men and women, relatives,money power, status and the like. The apparent virulence of untruth is like a water-boat or a palace raised on sand, which takes no time to tumble down. On the occasion of Rāmalnā big sized effigies of Rāvana are made, looking at which people wonder how the small Rāma will defeat the demon of a man. The effigy, however, is made of bamboo-slivers. The moment a spark touches it, it is reduced to ashes in a trite. No untruth has staying substance.
The banyan tree of truth grows slowly but steadily. Its roots are deep. The tree subsists for hundreds of years and no storm can shake it. The creepers, however, grow apace but only to perish soon. The slightest heat destroys them and a little rain rots them.
* Truth has as much power as a thousand elephants. No physical and immoral power can withstand its spirituality.
Avašyak-sūtra and Prašnavyākarana assert that a truthful person can cross the ocean. Fire cannot burn him. Boiling oil, heated iron and the like become cool like ice the moment they come in contact with him. Even if he falls from the high peaks of a mountain he remains unhurt. Even when surrounded by enemies, he emerges from the ordeal without so much as a scratch: The gods are eager to have the dust of his feet.
Kant says that truth enables a man to discriminate between the good and the bad, holy and unholy. The key to all good qualities in the heart is in his possession. There is nothing nobler than truth to attain divinity.
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