Say True or False: "Sun rises in the east and sets in the West"
If we ask this question to anyone, a majority would say that its true. Few of us would also claim that its not false but would ask us to realize that sun neither rises nor sets, its a perception based on other truths like earth revolves around the sun and earth rotates itself from West to East.
Wiser among us would agree that both the views are true. While we feel that both are true, not many among us can explain as to how to explain the contradiction that exists, if at all it exists. :)Many philosophers have explained and talked about the concept and nature of truth and let me share what impressed me under this topic....
- There are many contemparary theories on truth and its nature, like Correspondence Theory, the Semantic Theory, the Deflationary Theory, the Coherence Theory, and the Pragmatic Theory. You can google this and read about this. Thoughts from Plato, Socrates, Aristotle and Confucius would spur your thinking process but I found some very interesting references in our own hindu scriptures and tamil literature very interesting....
In our Vedas and Upanishads, there are replete references Satyam (सत्य / சத்யம்) and ரிதம் / रिथं (Rhitham) and most references that i came across state
"Ritham Vathishyami, Satyam Vathishyami"
If you want to translate in English it just means let me tell the truth, but if you try to understand what it actually means, you will be surprised at the level of wisdom these scrips convey.
Simply put Ritham essentially means "vyavaharika truth" (worldly truth) and Satyam means "Paramarthika truth" (absolute). So what is Ritham? Sun rises in the east and sets in the west is "vyavaharika truth". The other does not need an interpretation as this is the absolute truth, which is sun neither rises or sets and the perception is because of earth is rotating itself.
If richness of the language is an indication of the maturity of civilization then indian languages & Civilization has no competition. I frequently quote 2 other examples that highlights the deep knowledge of nature, Indians had:
1. Geology in Sanskrit is called "Bhoogol". The word Gol means "round". The study of round earth is geology and this term has been in existence for thousands of years.
2. Brahmaand in Sanskrit means "Universe". The word Anda means "Egg".
This essentially means we knew that the world is round and the Univese is elliptical in shape and thats why we called it so. Compare that to a civilization that stoned people including Galileo as late as 17th century for claiming that the world is round and the scientific community which did not even knew that the Universe is elliptical till the mid / end of last century. I think we have to learn a great deal from our past which has been hidden from us for some reason or the other. Also we have a greater responsibility of passing it on the next generation.
But coming back to the main topic, the following couplet best explains the nature of truth:
வாய்மை எனப்படுவது யாதெனின் யாதொன்றும்
தீமை இலா சொலல்
This is a classic couplet from Thirukural, which tells what truth is in just one and half lines. Tamil professors are pretty kicked about this couplet since of the one half lines almost 3/4 th of the line actually means "Truth means what". So that exact meaning goes like this, " Truth means what, words that does not harm".
The way we are taught this couplet in school is with an example, Lets say you are chased by a mob and you come and hide in my house. The mob arrives and asks me if i have seen you running here. Now i know that you are hiding in my house and traditional wisdom suggests that i should speak the truth which is tell them "where you are".
But the interpretation of this couplet suggests that I should not tell them that you are here if i think they may harm you. Telling a "lie" at that time, that i dont know where you are, is still the truth.
The same concept is stressed by Manu,
"Satyam Brooyath, priyam Brooyath, na Brooyath satyam apriyam, Priyam cha nanrutham brooyath", which means
"Speak the truth, speak what is pleasant, don't speak unpleasant things even if its the truth, Dont speak pleasant things if its not the truth".
So the relative nature of the truth and more importantly that the nature of the truth is not in just its words / meaning but in its effect also, is the point which i wanted to emphasize.
"Men occasionally stumble on the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened" . While this article is about the "Nature of truth", "the truth about our nature" is the ability to live a shallow life and avoid thinking deeply on any issues at any level. This is the second point which i wanted to highlight.
So, does the Sun rise in East? :)
Your truthfully
Happy reading!
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